Detective Benson Ties the Knot
by S.carlett V.on U.ttenburg
Summary: Sequel to New Life  The twists of balancing family and passions.  Olivia finds her selfish side.  Elliot hides his fears.  Lions and tigers and EO Babies  Oh My!  I hate Summaries for unfinished work.  ARG!
1. I wanna make him Stay Up All Night

**AN: Dick Wolfe owns me. It's a given! Secondly, this is a sequel to "New Life" you will more than likely be confused if you haven't read that, but it's not that hard to follow, so if you want to read it without the first half- go for it. THIRDLY, to all of you who did read "New Life" and begged for a new story- you got me so excited that I had to write it ------like tonight-----so the ideas came out a lot faster than I had intended. You're all lucky. LASTLY, this chapter is devoted to one of my favorite songs "Stay Up Late"---If anyone can guess the name of the band they get a featured extra role in the next chapter. If you don't know the the song or the band, you should go download the song----it's fun! You'll like it! OK GO. Please R&R-Thanks**

**I wanna make him Stay Up All Night**

Tiny staccato cries came from the room across the hall. Elliot looked at the clock. The red numbers glared in the dark. 4:15 am.

His sensitive retinas pulled shut and he waited before moving from the bed.

Olivia laid next to him in a deep sleep. Ever since she'd started sleeping next to him, she'd never slept so soundly. They hadn't taken the plunge and shared one home officially yet, but Olivia hadn't spent one night, since his return, without the warmth of his arms.

She liked to think that her total lack of consciousness was caused by the exhaustion brought on from the physical demands of motherhood and the stress of a new job, but Elliot insisted that those were all excuses to hide her dependent soft spot.

He was convinced that she finally trusted someone other than herself to protect and defend her every move. He also teased her about it every chance that he got.

**Flash to moment**

"We need milk, can you go with me," Olivia asked as she closed the refrigerator and waddled to the door sporting her designer flip-flops and her pregnant stomach.

Elliot flipped through the New York Times and spoke without looking ", I don't know. It's possible that I can go with you, but only if you let me carry the bag home."

"Elliot, I just wanted some company."

"Oh well in that case, you can carry the milk, the ice cream, and our baby all by yourself."

Olivia grabbed his newspaper and hit him on the head. "You're so mean."

"You're so stubborn," he replied with a grin on his face. He loved watching her fight the selfish urges that she was so used to living by.

"Fine. I'll let you carry the milk."

Elliot stood up and kissed her on the cheek. "I love you sweetie."

She gave him a sassy smirk and turned for the door with the last word. "I love you too, but I get to hold the ice cream."

**F****lash Over **

There was a small sense of accomplishment in Elliot's mind the day she had to lean on him for support.

And seeing how he had raised four children and she'd only grazed the experience with a fine comb, his support was coming in handy every time she turned around.

That didn't stop her from researching the hell out of everything, though. She had more books and gadgets than Elliot ever remembered there being.

At first he tried to convince her that most of it was unnecessary and over priced, but he realized that it was just causing them to fight.

**Flash to moment---------------------------------**

""40 weeks: The Pregnancy Organizer.' 'Things to buy at the baby superstore', Liv, this is silly, we have everything you need for the baby right here," Elliot said as he threw the book onto it's original pile by her side of the bed.

"Elliot, everything that you have is being used by Maureen. And you act like I was going to take the book at verbatim. I just want to be prepared."

Olivia sat in the bed reading "What to Expect when you're Expecting", and Elliot laid next to her petting the top of her large stomach.

"I just think you're getting a little carried away."

"Well, some of us have never done this before," she halfway yelled losing her temper.

"Liv, if you have a question just ask."

Olivia closed the book and threw it to the ground in a huff of agitated frustration. "A question? Ok Elliot, here's a question, what does it feel like to squeeze a basketball out of a hole the size of my fist?"

"Ok, I get it," he said taking the fist she had just made and kissing it into a calm state.

**Flash Over **

So from that point on he did his best to be patient with her trail and error learning process.

This was her moment and if she wanted a diaper genie he was going to buy it for her.

Elliot sat up in bed watching her softly breathe under the covers and waiting for the cries in the next room to subside.

He watched the clock tick by, all the while, nodding off and then jerking himself awake.

At 4:25, the baby's hunger had driven the whimpers into hysterical fits.

One foot at a time Elliot shuffled into the room, picked up the warm red-faced bundle from his crib, and rubbed his back. "Shh, it's ok big Ben. I'm gonna feed you."

Next to the crib sat Maureen in a rocking chair peacefully snoring.

Her glasses were crooked on her nose, an open book stuck to her lap, and a drool towel hung on her shoulder.

Elliot closed the book and pulled the glasses from her face.

He knew it was going to be a rocky first year, but his sleep deprivation was wearing thin.

He couldn't wait for Maureen's finales to be over.

Elliot was well aware of the mess he invited into his tiny apartment, but nothing prepared him for a colicky baby, college mid terms, and a very pregnant, not to mention, hormonal Olivia Benson. Personal refuge in general was over, as he knew it.

He couldn't even bring himself to think about the unborn baby in Olivia's stomach. The sleepless nights that would soon begin for that feet were not even close to making it onto his agenda at the moment.

Still, as he held his grandson and watched him innocently drink his bottle into a dreamy oblivion, he couldn't help but smile and feel like this was exactly where he was supposed to be.

Little Ben was Elliot's pride and joy. He had pictures plastered all over his desk at work and when Ben wasn't with his mother he was strapped to Elliot in some kind of way, shape, or form.

Most importantly, Ben was the peacemaker that their broken family needed.

From the day Maureen held him in that hospital and said out loud ", Everyone, I want you to meet Benson Carter Stabler," the family was forced to smile at their bitter feelings.

Not one of them, including Kathy, could begrudge the tiny baby that each of them helped bring into the world.

Maureen held up his little head and looked directly into Olivia's eye. "Liv, I know I haven't been the easiest person to get along with, but without your help Ben wouldn't be here today. For that I will be ever grateful, which is why I felt it was necessary to name him after you."

Olivia never looked more beautiful and happy when she proudly took Maureen's hand and kissed it, while whispering ", I'm here to help you anytime you need it, lovely lady."

Then Maureen looked at Kathy who was standing next to her new boyfriend, William.

"Mom," she continued ", you're my hero and my guidance. I will always live my life to the fullest. If not for Ben, for you. So I felt it only appropriate to make his middle name after your maiden name, Carter. And Dad," she smiled winking in his direction ", what can I say, your name was a given. Thank you for supporting me."

Elliot had kissed Maureen on the forehead and watched his little girl become a woman.

She held that baby like a pro and so far, although needing a hand here and there, she was doing a fine job at changing the diapers and keeping the grades.

Big Benson Stabler was, in his opinion, the man of the house.

He was just like Maureen. He demanded all of the attention and he was as tough as nails.

Since the moment they brought him home, kicking and fussing became his favorite mood.

Other than his hot temper Benson was the grandson that Elliot always dreamed about.

His thick arms showed athletic promises and his favorite thing was sleeping on Elliot's chest during MASH reruns.

All in all, Elliot was the happiest he'd ever been.

Quietly he placed Ben into his crib and then carried Maureen to her bed. With a yawn and a scratch he made his way through the clutter and laid his head on the pillow next to Olivia's.

Elliot slipped his hand around Olivia's round belly. She turned and lightly kissed his face while running her hand down the front of his chest. Her hormones screamed to be touched by him.

Before he could drift into the first stages of sleep his body took over and arousal filled his crotch as Olivia's hand gently touched the skin under his boxer shorts.

He was exhausted, but he could always find the energy to make love to Olivia. He kissed her neck and placed his fingers between her legs. She moaned and writhed under the blankets.

Her audible breathing gave Elliot just the boost he needed to lift himself over her and feel for her warm insides with the head of his hard on.

Olivia made soft sounds with every thrust that he made. Her legs ached to feel his body move between them as he smoothly pulled himself in and out of her.

The orgasm she so desperately needed clenched onto him and she stopped in a fit of climactic waves.

Elliot pushed himself to release with her and just at the height of the moment the ring of his cell phone stunted the feeling with its abrupt interruption.

"Damn it," he grunted.

Olivia squeezed his hand and kissed it a few times to try and ease his frustrations.

911 and an address ran across the screen. "I gotta go baby," he whispered to Olivia.

"Be safe. I love you," she replied.

"I love you too."

Once again, Elliot would grumble to work with few hours of rest and a flacide erection.

**AN: Let me know your thoughts :) **


	2. Defense Against the Dark

**AN: So my to "Talking Heads" winners (that was the name of the band) are MariposaAngel18 and Liv-it-up-lov. They will make a brief appearance at the end of the chapter and possibly a few more. This is a long chapter, but there was a lot that needed to be done. Also, I really have no idea if Olivia's job exists. I think it does. I mean, usually the Lawyer takes over as an Advocate, but I think there are also psychologists who advocate and get victims ready for hard cases and courtroom trails. So just believe that it exists, even if it doesn't. I hope you likes. Drop me your thoughts.****  
**

**Defense Against the Dark**

Olivia pulled herself up the cement stairs leading into the 1-6 precinct and got onto the elevator. This time instead of pressing the 4th floor button she pressed the 6th and continued her way to the new desk she now occupied in the victim's advocate office.

It wasn't the type of position she would have originally applied for. The hours were still at random, she didn't get to carry a gun, and the only dangerous part of the day was catching a cold from the victim's that got too clingy.

But when the head of the department begged Olivia to transfer her skills to the sixth floor, she decided that her circumstances deserved a less life-threatening environment.

It was time to test her psychology skills and put away her pistols. The job was right up her alley.

She knew the ins and outs of the courtroom and if anyone was good at making a victim feel comfortable it was Olivia.

Her only draw back was education, so on top of being pregnant, working on a relationship, and starting a new job, she was forced to take advanced psychology courses every Tuesday and Thursday night to bring her skills up to pare.

It was something she'd always wanted to do; she just wished it could have waited.

She had no complaints, though. This was a job that a lot of people were breaking down the door for and the fact that they hired her on such short credentials and a quickly approaching leave of absence, made her feel confident that she could do the job they needed from her.

This morning, like most, started slowly. She made a few phone calls and set up appointments for councilor courtroom meetings. After her fourth bathroom break the phone on her desk finally rang.

"Benson, how can I help you," she asked as she held the phone to her ear and slowly sat in the dark chair behind her desk.

"Hey sweetheart, I have a little girl here at Sinai, possibly molested and beaten, most likely by foster parents. She's being uncooperative with the rape kit process. She's gonna need a state guardian and some Benson finesse."

Olivia smiled at the sound of his voice. It was the added bonus to her perfect mommy job.

She got all the benefits of helping the victims while still maintaining a partnership with all of her old unit members. She was going to miss the interrogations, but every now and again she would over hear the case details and throw in her educated two cents.

"I'll be there in ten," she replied.

SCENE

The hospital was crowded when she got there. Elliot and Chester Lake stood in the hallway guarding the door from the overly hysterical foster mother.

"I can't understand why you won't let me talk to her. She was fine when I left her this morning," cried the thin woman with bad skin and messy hair.

Chester pointed for her to sit and added his deepest regrets in an annoyed tone. "That may be ma'm, but we can not allow you to disrupt our process, before we get a solid statement from the girl."

Elliot watched his glowing Olivia walk towards them.

"Where is she," Olivia asked, already in the groove of things.

He nodded towards the room and opened the door for her.

Olivia walked in with Elliot behind her. She saw the eight-year-old girl watching Sponge Bob and giggling like her world had never faltered. She was thin and had several visible bruises on her face and arms. At the site of Olivia's entrance the girl stopped and hung her head in defense.

"Hi Catherine, my name's Olivia. I'm here to help you feel better."

Catherine didn't answer her.

"I see you like Sponge Bob. He's one of my favorites too. I like Gary. Who's your favorite character?"

Catherine looked at Olivia and softly answered. "I like Patrick the best."

Olivia smiled and sat in the chair next to her bed. "He's silly isn't he?"

Catherine's face lit up.

"So Catherine, I hear you had an accident this morning."

"My teacher made me come to the hospital."

"Do you like your teacher?"

She nodded. "She let me play the lead in our school play."

"Wow, that's exciting. Why do you think your teacher made you come here today, Catherine?"

"Because the hurt on my arm started bleeding."

"How did that happen?"

"I'm not allowed to say," Catherine whispered.

"Is it a secret," Olivia whispered back.

"Joseph told me not to tell."

"Who's Joseph?"

"My foster daddy."

Olivia touched Catherine's hand and gently kept the girl talking. "You are such a loyal friend to keep that secret. But you want to know something about secrets?"

The girl blinked and whispered ", what?"

"Sometimes keeping a secret isn't always a good thing, especially, if that secret is harming you. Catherine, did Joseph give you these bruises?"

She nodded and started to cry. Olivia wrapped her arms around the fragile girl as her little body held onto her large tummy.

Moments like these made Elliot fall in love with Olivia all over again. Under her hard exterior she knew exactly how to love. It was like she'd saved every bit of her heart for the perfect hug and the right words to melt a person's soul.

The little girl sobbed into her body. "I didn't mean to make him angry."

"Oh sweetheart, it wasn't your fault. Joseph is an adult and he was wrong by hurting you. Now honey, I'm going to be here for you to talk to anytime you need me. I know you've already been through a lot but I can tell that you're a brave girl. Can you stay brave for me just a little longer?"

"Yes."

"Good," she smiled. " I have a few friends that I need you to talk to. They need you to answer them as best as you can. Can you do that for me?"

"Ok," she sniffed.

Olivia looked at Elliot who stepped forward and smiled at them. "Hi Catherine, I'm Elliot."

"Catherine, Elliot is a detective and he's a very good friend of mine. He's going to ask you some questions and then I'm going to help you find a house where you won't have to keep secrets anymore. Does that sound good to you?"

"Yes," she smiled.

"I'm glad," Olivia smiled. "If it's ok with you before we talk to Elliot, can you do me one more favor?"

"Sure."

"The doctors need to do one more test to help you feel better."

"No," she cried.

"I'm not going to leave you. I'm going to stay right next to you the whole time and if you feel uncomfortable at all you just squeeze my hand and I will help you to stay strong, ok?"

Catherine whimpered an ", ok," and the nurse came in to start the rape kit.

Olivia held Catherine tightly like she was her own daughter and tried to keep the girl's mind off of the examine by making jokes and blowing bubbles.

SCENE

Not all of Olivia's duties involved hand-holding and hospital visits.

After she managed the victim's in her files she would end her day at the precinct gym with a room full of chatty women.

The city was in a transition to build a more advanced support center for the special victim's unit.

Olivia was asked to be the first person to run the 1-6 precinct's Women's Defense classes.

She was thrilled to be a part of such an invigorating task.

So far, it was her favorite part of the day. Her students reminded her of why she stayed at the Special Victim's Unit for so long.

They idolized her strength and teased her with nicknames like Mama B and Detective Dumbledore.

It was nice to be able to see the system work.

She'd gone through many cases where the victims were left to fend for themselves or dropped into a faceless filing cabinet.

Now they had a place to go and a means to fight for their lives.

Olivia stood in black jogging pants and an extra large NYPD T-shirt. With her belly out and her hands on her hips she held a confident hold on each woman in the room.

"Ladies, grab a partner and go over your arm holds, please."

Olivia walked around the room and helped the women go through their stances.

She got to her two favorite girls in the class, Melissa and Sam.

They were total strangers when they entered the class, but after the first day Olivia could have sworn they were bosom buddies.

Sam was lying on the ground laughing hysterically.

"Ooo, are you ok," Melissa said after tossing Sam over her shoulder. "I didn't realize I could do that."

"I didn't realize this was ass kicking day," Sam laughed gasping for air

Olivia helped Sam off the ground. "Be careful, Melissa. I don't really want you performing these on each other I just wanted you to go through the motions."

"Sorry, I was trying the move and my mind just released this energy that I can't even explain. It felt really great."

"I'm glad you feel great, cause my back has a different perspective."

Melissa winced. "Did I hurt you Sam?"

"No, girl, I'm fine, you're just lucky I like you or I would have knocked your knee out."

Olivia laughed. "Ok everyone settle down let's regroup and talk about how your week is going thus far."

All the women were badly shaken by their attacks. Some of them were raped and beaten by spouses but most of them had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

This class was a release of so many things for them and it gave them a chance to fight their up hill battle with people who understood where they were coming from.

The group was a comfort zone and they all looked up to Olivia for her strong encouragement and her ability to move about so freely with a watermelon attached to her body.

The class ended and Olivia gulped down a bottle of water before attempting to roll off the ground.

Melissa and Sam helped her up and pulled the mats to the corner of the room, while the rest of the class said their goodbyes and filed out of the studio talking and cackling like a herd of hens.

"So when are you due," Sam asked.

"Eight weeks," Olivia smiled. She proudly rubbed her tummy and reached for her duffle bag.

"I got it," Melissa said picking up the bag and walking with her and Sam towards the door.

"You must be pretty excited," Sam smiled.

"I'm excited, nervous, anxious, overly happy. I knew that I'd enjoy being a mother, but something about feeling this baby grow in my stomach is indescribable. I love being pregnant," she beamed.

"Can I touch you're stomach," Melissa asked.

"Of course," Olivia grinned.

The two girls felt the round hump under Olivia's shirt and pretended for a moment that they could feel the baby. Sam looked up at Olivia with sparkling brown eyes ", is your husband excited?"

Olivia's smile faded a bit, but quickly she hid her fear with sarcasm. "Well, my baby daddy is very excited…I think."

"Ah oh," Melissa teased with a hint of shock. "Ms. Benson's got a baby daddy? And she _thinks_ he's excited?"

"Well everyone essentially has a baby daddy," Olivia replied haughtily.

"Yeah, but you don't seem the type," Sam continued.

"Our relationship is difficult."

Sam held open the gym door for Melissa and Olivia and shook her head. ", So that doesn't mean he can't bend down and beg you to marry him. You are like one of the most amazing women and I've ever met, _and_ you're carrying his baby."

Olivia blushed and blinked back the weak emotional woman inside of her.

Sam's comment wasn't an original thought.

Olivia had waited for Elliot to ask, but she certainly wasn't going to broach the subject. She didn't need to beg.

"Oh now, you two are much to easy to please and as far as my baby daddy goes, I don't need a piece of paper to verify his commitment. From what I've seen marriage is a dieing practice anyway."

"Wow, I can't believe you just said that," Melissa gawked. "You're not afraid of anything are you?"

Olivia looked down the street ahead of her. She ignored their gazes and lied through the skin of her teeth. "Nope."

Quickly changing the subject she turned to the girls and smiled. "Well I'll see you ladies next week."

"Good night Mama B," Melissa nodded.

"Until then, " Sam smiled.

The girls walked in the opposite direction and waved. Olivia headed down the sidewalk towards her apartment.

There was a cool fall breeze blowing her hair against the night wind. Her thoughts remained hung up on what Sam had said.

She had no doubt in her mind that Elliot would give her the moon and follow her to the ends of the earth and back, but the tiniest bit of anger ate away at her soul knowing that their child was about to take it's first breath of oxygen and he hadn't even hinted at a marriage proposal.

And although, they'd talked about moving in together he didn't really take any sort of action to start the process.

Olivia didn't even have a room for the poor thing. Everything that she'd bought so far was piled in a corner of her living room.

She looked down at her stomach and tried hard not to wallow in her own pity party.

She just wanted her child to have everything that she didn't have growing up, and it seemed as though her efforts were not as solid as she'd hoped they'd be.

Before she could take one more step she felt something behind her.

Her reaction was slow and suddenly the touch of a hand and a knife pressed to her throat.

She gasped and slightly panicked. "What are you doing," is all she could mutter.

The man forced her into an alleyway and she elbowed him in the stomach. He pulled the knife away and fell backward.

"Help," she screamed and ran for the street waving her right arm and holding her stomach with her left arm.

The man chased her and grabbed her hair. Nobody was around. It was like New York had closed for five brief minutes and she was the only one left to hear her own cries.

She could see the gym two blocks ahead of her and she screamed a second time before the man pulled her against him and held his knife against her stomach.

"Scream again and I will use this."

Olivia controlled her anxious breathing and talked calmly to the man. "Ok. Ok, I'll do what ever you need me to, just don't hurt my baby. Please. I beg of you."

The man slapped her in the face and pushed her to the ground. She'd never felt so helpless.

She made sure to take in every inch of his face. The black hair and the blue hoody.

His eyes were bright blue and he unzipped his pants and gripped at her sweat pants frantically as she did her best to make his task incredibly difficult.

"Stop moving," he yelled.

Briefly he placed the knife on the ground to pull at the elastic on her pants.

She took that moment to punch him in the face and push him off of her body.

He yelled in pain and she screamed one more desperate cry of help before he smashed her head into the brick wall behind her.

The empty open alleyway was the last thing she saw before blacking out and slumping over on her side. Darkness consuming her body.


	3. Cold

**AN: All of the reviews are so wonderful and they make me laugh. I mean, technically it's kind of evil that I laughed, but you all are so dramatic. I'm glad to know that I've moved you. Um, this chapter is short, but I've already started the next one. It just felt right to end the chapter here. So don't go crazy on me for cutting you short. **

**Cold **

Elliot was filing some last minute paper work when Don burst through his office door. "Elliot, Olivia's on the scanner."

That's all he said before rushing his old ass past the four dumb founded detectives and disappearing into the stairwell.

Elliot dropped his files. The crease between his eyes formed with concern and he hit the stairwell door yelling behind the sound of Cragen rounding the steps as fast as his heart would take him.

"Captain, what's going on?"

"There was an attack. Paramedics said Benson…I don't know. Two blocks down," Cragen shouted through the large gasps of air he forced into his lungs.

Elliot reached Cragen and pushed past him at full speed. When he reached the street he saw the lights flashing ahead of him and ran for his life towards the ambulance.

Olivia sat inside with a gash on the back of her head and shame in her eyes. She held her stomach with one hand and leaned against the back of the elevated bed while paramedics checked her vitals.

Sam and Melissa stood on the sidewalk talking to the police with their arms crossed and tears running down their face.

"I forgot my purse and when we went back to get it we heard the scream," Melissa sobbed. "I can't believe this happened."

"The guy was leaning over her. I saw that he had no weapons so I choked him with my arm. Just like Ms. B showed us. Once I started I couldn't stop. He passed out and Melissa called 911," Sam continued while wiping a tear from her face.

"She was just laying there. There was so much blood coming from her head."

Both girls were shaken, but Melissa sobbed uncontrollably while Sam held her fears in.

The cop scribbled all of the information down recording every detail while remaining aloof from the emotional state of it all.

**REWIND**

When Olivia came too she was on the ground surrounded by paramedics. The realization of the attack sunk in and she grabbed at her stomach and pants. "Was I raped," she asked with panic in her eyes.

The man applying pressure to her head lifted the top part of her body from the ground and replied ", we don't think so. Two girls took down the guy. They don't believe he had a chance to get that far."

Olivia took in several weak gasps of air and closed her eyes with relief. The paramedics brought over a gurney, but Olivia refused to allow them to put her on it.

"No, no, I'm fine. I can walk."

"Ma'm, you have a head wound. It's best if you allow us to lift you and take you in."

She pushed them out of the way and stood up only to find her eyes go dark with dizziness. "It's not that bad."

"Ma'm you are under no condition to walk."

Olivia angrily flailed her free arm while holding onto the pushy paramedic. "Please stop! Stop insisting that you know what is good for me! I was just forced into an alley by a man with a knife. For the love of god, I will walk to the fucking ambulance if I want to."

The two male paramedics rolled their eyes and took each of her arms as she inched her way to the back of the vehicle.

She was shaking all over. The baby was awful still inside of her stomach and she rubbed it over and over again to try and feel some kind of movement.

As she reached for the step to the ambulance a small kick pressed against her insides.

She paused and held her breath.

"Ma'm are you ok," asked the paramedic.

A tear rolled down her cheek. "Yeah."

She silently prayed for the first time in years that the only thing damaged was her ego and her dignity.

**SKIP FORWARD**

Elliot jumped in the back sweating and breathing ferociously. "What happened?"

Olivia couldn't even look at him she was so embarrassed that she allowed herself to fall victim to the one thing that she fought against.

"I'm fine," she said as she turned her head away from his.

"Liv, don't do that to me." He knelt beside her and pulled back the hair from her face.

"What happened," he repeated softer with concern and immediacy behind his voice.

She faced his stare, holding her lips together tightly for fear they would cause her to cry yet again. "I wasn't paying attention and a man attacked me from behind. There do you feel better now."

"Liv, honey, you can't blame this on yourself. You're body isn't under it's normal conditions."

"What because I'm pregnant I'm automatically excused from being self aware and cautious of my surroundings?"

Elliot sighed and turned his head in frustration. He knew no matter what he said it wasn't going to be right. "I think you're over-reacting."

The man taking Olivia's blood pressure undid the armband and butted into the conversation. "Sir, we're getting ready to head to the hospital now. You can follow us if you want."

"I'm with her," Elliot answered.

"Are you family?"

"Yes" -Elliot "No"-Olivia

Both replied simultaneously. Elliot's jaw slightly dropped at her cold reactions. "Olivia, what the hell?"

"Well, you're not," she said plainly. Her anger was starting to rise. It was like a monster inside of her ready to snap at anyone or anything that got in its' way.

Elliot watched her stiff body language and coolly lifted his brow as he turned away. "Ok, Olivia, you do what you gotta do."

The doors closed behind him and she watched the back of his head move further and further away from her through the glass windows.

Being angry with him was the easy way to deal with the pain. Her body felt dirty and violated. She was unfamiliar with her own skin. Goosebumps ran up her arms just thinking about the details of it.

In a moment like this, she thought that Elliot would be the one thing that would fix everything, but she just wanted to be left alone.


	4. Steam from the Coffee

AN: Thanks for the R&R everybody. You guys rock!

**Steam from the Coffee **

Elliot tossed around in his empty bed. It was the first night in months that Olivia wasn't next to him.

She was adamant about having her space that night.

So after Elliot snuck around the hospital making sure all of the tests proved positive and forced her to allow him to drive her home, he came back to his room to sleep off his frustrations.

All night he could think of nothing but her. He could feel himself making the same mistakes he made with Kathy.

The mistake of causing a distance between his fears and the people close to him.

He knew why Olivia really wanted her space.

The argument was obvious, but he couldn't ignore the pressure in the back of his mind.

The pressure to be a good father and husband.

It was a job he never fully accomplished in the past, and now, at the age of forty, he lacked the confidence for a second try.

The silence was driving him crazy. He sat up and clicked on the light.

Groggily he walked to his sock drawer.

He'd been holding a small box in the corner of his drawer since the divorce with Kathy went through.

It was an impulse buy, but the feelings behind it were genuine. Elliot opened the small box and looked at the ring inside of it.

He couldn't understand why he hadn't given it to her yet. Every time the thought made it to his lips a weakness inside of him held it back.

He didn't want to screw anything up. She was too important to him.

Sitting on the corner of his bed, Elliot flipped the lid of the black box open and closed, while starring at the empty sheets.

That empty space was not what either of them needed right now and Elliot knew that.

Over the years he learned that when Olivia was in doubt with herself she always demanded to be alone.

It was her way of avoiding conflict.

And although he tried to give that space to her, he was never really good at understanding it.

And rightly so. Being a child who was raised with six brothers and sisters, and then going on to raise four of his own, space was not an option.

You had to fight for what you wanted. Family was family.

If you had an issue they did too. By allowing Olivia to retreat he was placing her in their familiar partnership, and it was time to put that relationship on a shelf.

Grabbing a shirt he headed for the door.

Maureen was feeding Benson in the living room when her father bolted outside. "Where are you going?"

"Coffee," was all he said before closing the door behind him.

"But we have coffee here," she said to herself confused but not entirely surprised. Ever since her father started seeing Olivia on a regular basis outrageous things were happening all of the time.

She bounced the baby over her shoulder and shook her head. "Crazy kids."

SCENE

Buzzz. Buzzzz.

"Somebody better be dead," Olivia groaned into the speaker.

"My black heart. Now let me in," Elliot demanded.

"I told you I couldn't see you tonight."

"I brought coffee."

"I can't drink coffee."

"It's decaf."

"Go home Elliot."

"You are my home. I'm not leaving until you let me in."

Olivia paused weighing the importance of staying angry or making things right. She clicked the buzzer.

Elliot walked in to find her curled up on the edge of the couch under a blanket watching "Breakfast at Tiffany's."

He placed the two coffee cups on the coffee table and muted the movie. "Can't sleep?"

"Elliot, I really can't talk about the attack tonight ok," she said frankly but with warmth in her tone.

"I didn't come here to talk about that."

Elliot was sitting on the other side of the couch. He felt so far from her. Slowly he moved next to her and reached out for her hand.

"I'm _really_ not in the mood for that."

"Liv, if you want this relationship to work, you have to talk to me. That's what a family does they talk to each other. They lean on each other. They support each other. And I know that you're new to this, but I know you want it. And I know why you're upset."

"You know, I am so tired of everybody knowing what is best for me. You have no idea why I'm upset."

"Ok, so tell me. Liv, why are you upset?"

Olivia turned away from him. She couldn't bare to be the first one to bring up the marriage conversation.

It was the one thing that her liberal bleeding heart lost to the conservatives.

With an almost robotic tone she mumbled her reaction. "If I have to tell you then it's not worth talking about."

"Stop pushing me away I'm not your partner anymore."

She snapped at him angrily ", that's right you're not. So what are you then, Elliot?"

Elliot ignored her anger and gently handed her the large paper coffee cup. "I didn't come here to fight."

Olivia placed it back on the table. "Why? I want you to fight. I wish you would fight. You're so comfortable and complacent. I've sacrificed so much for you. I gave up my job. I gave up my body. I take care of your grandson and your children with no questions asked. I've even given up most of my things just so that I can sleep next to you every night, and the one time I stand up for myself and think about what it is that we're doing with our lives I get attacked by a man with a sick agenda."

"Are you saying that this attack was my fault?"

"No, I'm just saying that there is something missing from our pretend family here, Elliot, and before the attack I was upset about it. Tell me that's not a sign? I have no control over my life anymore. I feel like a vessel. I crave to be with you, but I can't do it with one foot on the ground. I love that you love me, but I need more than that. I need more than half the bed. I miss my routine. I miss knowing that when I come home all of my things have a place. I miss my badge. I miss my gun. I miss being aware of things. This never would have happened to me when I was busting perps. I'm getting soft and…and… stupid. I can't believe how I missed that guy when I walked past him. I just don't feel like myself and I miss myself. I miss my selfish habits and my purple comforter and my midnight movie marathons." Olivia was sobbing by this point and having a hormonal break down. " And damn it, I miss not having to cry at everything that comes out of my mouth."

Elliot was aware that he had distanced himself recently, but he was completely oblivious to the all-around stress he had caused her. "Liv. God, I didn't know. Why didn't you say something? I love you so much and I want you to be happy. Please, let's fix this," Elliot said standing up and holding her large pregnant body with its' tiny frame.

Through the tears she whined. " On top of all of that I don't even recognize myself anymore. I'm fat. I'm so fat that I don't even fit into my fat clothes," she said as she pushed him away.

"You're body is beautiful. Liv, you're beautiful. You are the sexiest pregnant woman I've ever laid my eyes on. I can't say it enough. I've been so hung up on my own issues that I didn't realize that you were so unhappy," he said pulling her towards him again.

"Just don't even touch me. I can't stand myself at the moment. And you. I need you to step up. This baby is coming and if you aren't going to be here for us 100 then you need to re-evaluate the meaning of love."

"I know. I know. You're right. I've been an awful Elliot. Sit down. Calm down. That's why I'm here." Elliot guided her to the couch and knelt on the floor by her bare swollen feet. He wiped the tears from her face with his handkerchief and handed her the cup of coffee. "Have some of this."

"I can't. I'm too upset."

Elliot batted his eyes and stuck out his bottom lip in jest. "I walked all the way to your favorite coffee shop. Five blocks out of my way. Have some before it gets too cold."

She took the cup and held it in her lap. "Thank you, but Elliot coffee isn't going to butter me up. I need answers. I need commitment. I need my own damn bathroom and my daughter needs some walls for her crib."

Elliot looked at the pile of baby furniture in the corner and smiled. "Yeah, I suppose she does."

Then the words registered in his mind and he took a double take from the furniture to Olivia's eyes. "Wait a minute, did you just say…"

She nodded. "I asked the doctor tonight during the sonogram. We're having a little girl," she smiled.

Elliot nuzzled Olivia's belly and cooed into her shirt. "That's wonderful. She's gonna be so pretty. She's going to be the handful that takes the rest of my hair isn't she?"

Olivia laughed and played with the top of his head. "I'm sorry I shut you out at the hospital. I'm just a mess. That wasn't fair of me."

"It's ok," Elliot said looking up at her face from her lap. Slowly he lifted the coffee cup towards her face. Her lips pushed forward to drink from the plastic lid but then stopped at the sound of both of their cell phones.

Olivia placed the cup on the coffee table and grabbed her phone. "Benson."

With an irritated sigh Elliot mashed his face into the warm couch cushion and grabbed at his belt for the ever-interrupting cell phone.

"Cap, what cha got for me?"

Cragen's voice sighed on the other line. "There was a fire at the children's facility in Manhattan. Catherine Rigby is missing."

"I'll be there in a few."

Olivia stood in the center of the living room with her phone in her hand and her face in a state of shock.

Elliot blinked at her with question. "What's wrong?"

"Catherine's files are missing. I'm being evaluated for leaking information. They want me there in twenty minutes."

"Why would they think you leaked that?"

Olivia shook her head slowly. "I don't know."


	5. A Dirty Job

**AN: I'll just remind everyone that I know little about crime and official law business. So pardon my made up rules. I try to make them as real as possible. Secondly, you're reviews are just all very lovely. You make my smile. And you make me want to write more! Thanks for the inspiration! Enjoy!**

**A Dirty Job**

"Of course, I took the victim to the children's home. That's part of my job," Olivia yelled with fire in her eyes.

A stone-faced man with a comb over and a bad mohair suit sat with Olivia in an interrogation room. "How did you transport the girl?"

"In a unit car that I checked out and in. Which you would know if you looked at your records," she scoffed in annoyance.

"Yes, and it says that you checked the car in at 12:05pm, but Catherine wasn't taken to the home until 1:30pm. How do you explain that?"

"I brought Catherine to our offices because she was scheduled to meet with the ADA. After Casey Novak went over her story we waited in the children's room on the third floor for a social worker to show up. When that didn't happen, I made a few phone calls and had the Catherine placed in the Manhattan Facility."

"And that's when you took her there?"

Olivia was livid. She took in a deep breath to control her anger and seethed the answers from her clenched teeth. "Yes."

"And so you didn't use a unit vehicle?"

"No. It was only four blocks down. We walked."

"Why would you walk," the man said as he lifted a brow in her direction.

"Why wouldn't we? The girl was starting to feel comfortable. She was talking to me. The walk was good for her. The sun was out. Global Warming. Gas prices. I mean, where should I stop?"

"How about you stop on line 176 in your hand book under safety regulations."

Olivia grabbed the thick manual from the man's grasp and scanned the pages. "This is ridiculous. How is driving the victim and walking the victim any safer? We could have just as easily been followed in a unit car. And that walk doesn't even prove that we were followed-"

"Ms. Benson, you broke the rules. There is now a child in jeopardy, not to mention a ruined facility caused by a fire due to your mistake. If you have a problem with the rules take it up with a judge."

Olivia tried to stay calm and reasonable. The heat from her temper and her fresh head wound penetrated her skull like a slow ice pick. "Listen, I will fully take responsibility for walking my victim to her destination and I have no problem doing everything in my power to keep my victims safe, but I think that you're wasting your time interrogating me about a technicality when you should be scanning your video tapes for the perp."

"So you do have a problem with rules?"

Olivia snapped. "No, that's not what I said."

"That's funny because your track record begs to differ."

Slamming her hand on the table in front of her she looked into the man's eyes and exploded with fury ", my files were broken into! This has nothing to do with my record and you know it."

She pushed the hair out of her eyes and held the side of her head. After the long night she'd already had this was the straw that broke her patience.

The man scribbled silently into his notebook and Olivia knew that what ever he was writing was full of fiction and outrageous allegations. When he was finished he placed a piece of paper with a cell phone number on it in front of her. "Do you recognize this number?"

She looked at it and shook her head. "No."

She stood up from the table and a wave of black rolled in the back of her eyes. She turned her back on the man and wiped the sweat from her brow.

"Lying will only make this worse, so if you know whose number that is, cough it up."

Olivia paced the floor with her hand on her back and her belly swaying out in front of her. She was growing extremely uncomfortable and irritated. The longer he prodded her the angrier she grew. "I told you I don't know the number."

"Did you talk to anyone between the hours of ten and eleven tonight?"

"Yes, my brother, and that's not his cell phone number."

"Boy, your brother likes to get into trouble doesn't he?"

Olivia leaned on the table. A bead of sweat dripped from her face. "What do you mean by that?"

"You tell me."

"If you're saying that he had something to do with this, you'd better take another look at your evidence. He was out with a good friend of mine, who happens to be an FBI agent, so if you _are_ insinuating what I think you are, why don't you go take it up with them, because I have no idea how this happened?!"

"Ms. Benson, have you ever had problems controlling your temper?"

The man's voice drowned out almost inaudibly as Olivia staggered and slumped back into her chair.

"Ms. Benson, are you all right?"

She blinked back the nausea and exhaustion. The questions were like daggers. "I want a lawyer."

"You're only going to delay the process," he said in agitation.

"Aw, boo hoo," Olivia replied with a dark tone as she squinted through her bleary vision.

She could feel herself getting weak. She took in slow deep breaths of air and tried to keep herself together.

"Have you taken any kind of drug in the last forty-eight hours?"

Her eyes focused on the man like he had five heads and no brain. " I'm six months pregnant, does it look like I'm on drugs. Uh, I'm done. I'm not saying another word without my lawyer. This interrogation is over."

She placed both of her hands onto the warm metal table. The sweat from her palms stuck to the top like a sticky imprint. With her head turned away from the inspector she pushed herself to a stand and took one step. Her world started spinning in slow motion. Thankfully Cragen opened the door and held onto Olivia's arm.

Roberts followed her lead and stood up behind her. "Benson, I'm the only one that ends this interrogation."

Cragen pulled Olivia out of the room. His wrinkled red face glared at the man as he fought for control over his interrogation room. "Roberts, it's over. No lawyer, no interview. You got it."

SCENE

"When was the last time you saw Catherine," Chester Lake asked.

The dark skinned man sat in the precinct hallway with a crowd of children and several other foster care workers from the Manhattan Facility. The room was buzzing with noise and movement from the group of children brought from the Home for questioning.

"I did a head count as we filed out of their sleeping corridors. They each had a partner and we walked in a line from there to the street. She could have fallen behind at any point from there. I honestly, did not realize she was missing until I got them situated in the street."

Elliot sat with a little girl in pink pajamas. Her hair was a mess. It was half braided in cornrows with pieces of the hair frizzing from the lose folds. "Tamara, Catherine was your safety buddy correct?"

"Yes," she mumbled.

"When did Catherine drop your hand?"

"When we got out of the building."

"Did you see anyone take Catherine?"

"No."

"So Catherine just walked away from your group?"

"Yes. No. I don't remember."

Chester was now talking to a dopey ten-year-old boy. "So you did see strangers next to your group? Did you see any of them with Catherine?"

"Yeah. Yeah, a man walked her to the other side of the street with the rest of us."

"What was he wearing?"

"A black hat, with big pants and a blue t-shirt, and boots."

"Can you describe his face for me?"

"He was white. Oh and he had red suspenders."

Chester paused in mid sentence and looked up at the boy. "Evan, was this man a fireman."

Evan scratched his head. "Ah, maybe. I guess he was. Yeah. Yeah, he was a fireman."

SCENE

Cragen held open the door for Olivia and guided her into his office. "Liv, you look awful."

"I…I think I'm gonna pass out."

"Do you need me to call a bus?"

"No! Please, no. I just need to sit." Olivia sat on Don's office couch and curled up in a ball.

"How about some water," Cragen asked.

"Maybe just some …" she trailed off.

Don watched her eyes close as she fell into a deep sleep. He touched her neck to make sure her pulse was at a normal rate. Forty years on the job made him a little paranoid.

Her stomach moved up and down as an immediate line of drool formed on the leather couch under her cheek.

Cragen smiled. He missed her being around.

SCENE

Munch and Fin pushed through the crowd of parentless children, while trying to maneuver a box over the sleeping, giggling, eight to ten-year-olds.

"Wow this is a regular slumber party," Munch said under his breath.

"Yeah, let's hope nobody pulls out the warm bucket of water," Fin added.

Elliot stretched to a stand from a crotched position and looked at the two clown faced detectives slither towards him. "Munch. Fin. What do you got?"

"Fun for the whole family," Munch said directing his attention to the box of videotape in his hands.

"Let me know when you find anything."

"Will do, "Fin answered.

Elliot started to turn then stopped himself, balancing over several rambunctious kids hitting each other. "Oh, guys, did you get the tapes from our building?"

"Why would we need to do that," Fin asked with a wrinkled brow.

"Because I told you to," Elliot yelled.

"Calm down Romeo, we got'em," Munch said before hitting Fin and pulling him towards the upstairs television room.

"Fin, don't mess with me," Elliot said in a serious tone, his angry voice waking a scared little girl next to him.

SCENE

The night ticked by. Finally the hallway was cleared of children and uninformative adults. Munch and Fin had still found nothing in their video searches and Elliot opened Cragen's door to get some orders on their next plan of action.

"Captain."

The lights were turned off and the yellow glow from the desks in the office space behind him flooded over the floor and into the corner where Olivia slept. He walked over to her and caressed the side of her face. She was a little warm. He checked his watch. 4:30am. In another hour the sun would be peaking through the window. He gently bent over and lifted her limp tired body from the couch.

"What…Elliot," she whispered still mostly asleep.

"Shh, I'm taking you home."

She wrapped her arm around his neck and buried her head into his shoulder. It was an act that she never would have allowed in a normal state of mind.

Elliot walked her past the crew still working hard in the office. Chester looked up from the video board and blew Elliot a kiss. "Kiss her good night for me," he whispered.

"I will. Hey, you seen the cap?"

"Yeah, he went out with that Roberts guy from internal affairs about an hour ago. They were headed-"

"Where are you taking her?" said a voice from the hallway.

The man investigating Olivia's case, Allen Roberts, blocked the doors and neatly pushed his reading glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Home. She's under no condition to be here," Elliot said pushing himself around the prick with the clipboard.

"Well, she can't go home. She's being held here until proven otherwise."

"Held here on what charges," Elliot glared. His voice moved up a level.

Olivia jolted in his arms. She held up her head and grabbed at Elliot's body. "What's going on?"

Allen pointed his pencil at her. "Your Magnum P. I. is violating procedures, is what's going on?"

"Alright, that's it," Elliot said while placing Olivia on the ground. "What's your problem, jerk off?"

Elliot pushed Roberts into the doorframe. "You show me one procedure she's breaking. Tell me, Huh? Huh?!"

"Detective Stabler, I suggest you back off or you'll be spending time in the bullpen on harassment charges and tampering with an investigation."

"Elliot, calm down," Olivia cried as she grabbed the arm on his shirt.

Elliot backed away from Allan and spun in a circle trying to blow off steam. "Can't you see that she's pregnant and recovering from a concussion?"

Allan took off his glasses and wiped the spittle from Elliot's rant off of the frames. "That's a sad case, detective, but until you prove she didn't steal those files and hand them off to our perp, she's to be in the states custody."

"Are you trying to kill my baby?," Elliot argued.

Chester Lake was headed over to the argument. He pulled Elliot to the side and guided Olivia to a chair, while Allan Roberts wormed his way into the office a little further.

"I've already given her special treatment by allowing her to stay in this office. I don't know what else you want me to do."

Elliot was about to punch Roberts in the face. His neck bulged out and the vein in his forehead pulsed with rage. Chester pulled him back. "Elliot, my man, don't do it. Walk it off. It isn't worth it."

Elliot backed away and Chester calmly handed Allan a tissue for his glasses. He smiled and tried to dissipate the heated disagreement. "Allan, ahem, Inspector Roberts, I realize the steaks on this case are fragile, but what happened to every man is innocent until proven guilty. I mean, just because Olivia touched the files, doesn't mean she sold them to the perp. If that were how this place worked we'd all be guilty. Am I right?"

"Olivia Benson is our only suspect at this point. She had access to all of the information and her cell phone number was found in a phone that was retrieved on site. She's not going home until you all find me a better reason to let her off the hook."

Elliot was still angry but he kept himself together for Olivia's sake. "Did you ever think that that cell phone belonged to the children's home? How do you know Catherine wasn't the one calling her?"

"Do you think I'm daft, Detective? We've done every background check that one can do to a cell phone and there are only two calls that were made from this phone. One of them was to Olivia Benson and the other one was to her office. All of the cell phones in the home were accounted for. This one came from the outside. Take her to a bed, get her some water, do whatever you need to do, but she stays here and that's final.

Elliot briefly hunched over in a chair and held his hands around the base of his neck. He shook his head in total disgust. "I can't believe you're actually going to treat us this way."

Olivia slowly stood up. "Elliot it's ok. I'll go to the crib."

He followed behind her as she made her way to the back of the office. Before he turned completely towards the door he pointed a finger at Allan and grumbled angrily ", you're an asshole Roberts. A real asshole."

"I'm just doing my job, Stabler."


	6. Friends

**Friends **

Casey stormed through the Precinct doors with Trevor Langon closely behind. They were both in sweat pants and their hair was much to be desired, but they were ready and rearing to put up a fight.

"Elliot," Casey growled as she threw Elliot a thick packet of papers. "Get Liv out of the crib and take her pregnant ass home. I want to see Allen Roberts now!"

Trevor followed Elliot while explaining the next steps they needed to take.

Casey was unable to be Olivia's lawyer, but she was not about to let her department make a circus act out of the situation either.

She put her favorite lawyer on the job and marched her way towards the back of the bullpen where Allen Roberts sat intensely watching the security tapes.

Fin was slouched next to him with his eyes closed while Munch flicked tiny pieces of paper into the dieing ficka plant in the corner.

Neither one of them agreed with this procedure. They found Allen to be a pretentious screen hog.

They'd tried to pretend they were doing their job for the first two hours, but after juggling around Allen's body and holding back angry conversation, they'd taken a back seat and waited for orders.

When Casey made it to the top of the steps Allen stood up and pointed at the screen. "There. Write this down."

"Huh," Fin jerked up right in his chair and fumbled for a pen and paper.

"Allen Roberts, "Casey beckoned with her deep scratchy voice.

"Novak. Take a seat, I've got something."

Casey was not about to take it up the ass by a federal chump like Allen. She stood in front of the TV and handed Allen a law suite statement from Olivia's lawyer for erratic judgment and holding on false contempt.

Allen threw the paper on the top of the TV. "Please, that suite doesn't have a chance. Everything that I've done so far has been legal and hospitable to boot. Move Novak, your ass is in my way."

Allen pushed her to the side and rewound the tape to play it over again. "There. She leaves the office at 4:15pm; the files are in her hand, and into her bag. Novak, get me a warrant to find that bag."

Casey's voice trailed off and she looked at the screen hoping that what she saw were homework assignments.

When she didn't answer Allen prodded her. "Now Novak!"

SCENE

"Liv, we're going home," Elliot said, helping her from the bed and kissing her lips lightly.

Trevor stood at the door smiling. "How are you Benson? Never thought I'd see the day. You look absolutely breathtaking."

Olivia lifted a brow and sarcastically answered. "Langon you better be my representation because your lies are award winning."

Trevor chuckled. "I'm glad to see that motherhood hasn't effected your inability to take a complement. And yes, I'll be getting you out of this mess."

"Thank god," she replied.

Before Elliot could open the door to take Olivia home a bustle of noise and shouting burst through from the other side.

"Those files could be anything. I will not get you a warrant until you have probable cause," Casey yelled. Her face was beat red.

Allen whipped around and pointed his long thick finger in her face. "Who are you defending in the case Novak, the victim or your friend? Get me that warrant and get your priorities straight."

"But-"

"I can have you fired!"

Trevor pushed Allen to the side. "What the hell is going on?"

"Anarchy," Casey said before turning and stalking off in a fit of rage.

SCENE

Munch stood in Olivia's kitchen with a pair of rubber gloves dangling from his hands. He hadn't moved in five minutes.

Allen was in Olivia's bedroom and Fin was slowly going through her desk in the corner. "I feel dirty."

"I feel rapped," Munch said as he tossed the gloves on the counter.

He walked over to the desk and looked at the photographs next to her computer.

There were several shots of Olivia and Elliot making silly faces in a photo booth and a shot of the whole gang at Olivia's last day going away, but not too far away party.

Munch had an eerie feeling in the pit of his stomach. He'd never actually been to Olivia's apartment before, but this wasn't exactly how he wanted to be invited.

Fin half-heartedly sifted through the drawers and a nearby closet shaking his head and grumbling every now and again.

On the floor of the closet laid the brown briefcase from the video. "Munch."

They stood and looked at it contemplating if they should hide it or open it.

Either way they were hoping it would reprieve Olivia of her Scarlet Letter.

Fin bent over and slowly unzipped the front part of the case.

Inside he found Olivia's everyday accoutrements; pens, erasers, cough drops, a toy from McDonald's, and a few condoms.

He moved onto the next pocket, and there it was, the red cardboard file.

Munch knelt down next to him and they both held their breath as Fin unfolded the file.

'When coco butter isn't enough'

Fin read the page out loud and they both let out a sigh. "Thank god. Olivia, you are too organized girl."

"Well, I'm glad to k now that I never got those filing cabinets for my office," Munch replied. "You see what filing leads to."

Fin grimaced. " According to this one, healthy skin and invisible stretch marks. Let's get the hell out of here before we all turn into Big Brother."

SCENE

Elliot sat next to the cell that they temporarily placed Olivia in. He held her hand and rubbed her fingers.

Olivia was mentally going through all of the things that they could have missed about this case and then speaking them out loud. "You interviewed the foster parents, the tapes have all been gone through. Did you interview Patricia?"

"No, why?"

"Because she was in the bathroom when I left. She was the one who locked up."

"That wasn't in the report. It wasn't on the tapes either."

Olivia dropped his hand. "What do you mean it wasn't on the tapes?"

"You were the last one to leave the office. That was it."

"No," Olivia shook her head. "No, Patricia was. That's why I didn't lock the door. Elliot, you have to look at that tape again. Call her in here."

Elliot ran for the television and popped in the videotape.

He rewound it just before Olivia left the office. "Ok I see her. She goes to the bathroom; you come out, and…nothing. She never comes back."

Olivia stood next to the bars clutching them like she was holding on for her life. "Something's not right. Call her in."

"No, wait."

Elliot paused and Olivia waited for him to continue. When the silence lagged on too long she grew anxious. "Elliot?"

"The tapes missing."

"What do you mean?"

Elliot pulled the tape from the VCR and unclicked the film guard.

There on the film was a cut and some clear tape holding the film together. "Somebody tampered with this tape. There's a whole fifteen minutes taken from the shots."

Elliot ran down the steps and put the tape into an evidence bag.

Olivia followed him and tried to talk from her corner of the room. "Where are you going?"

"The lab. This might have prints on it."

Elliot zipped up the bag and ran over to Olivia.

Through the bars he held her hands and kissed her over and over again. "I love you. I'll be back."

She weakly smiled. "I trust you."

SCENE

When Elliot returned Olivia was out of the pen and arguing with Allen Roberts and her boss, George Stana.

"I can't believe this. George, my name has been cleared. I did not steal the file. You've known me for how many years, George? I need this job."

George was a reasonable man.

He hired Olivia, because they had done so much work with her in the past and he genuinely like her.

He stood in the middle of Olivia and Allen, who seemed to have a hatred for Olivia's entire being, with a wrinkled scared face and sweaty palms.

"Olivia, I understand. Trust me, I would never let you go. You are one of the best workers I've ever had. But the Feds are down my back."

Allen threw his hands up in the air. "That's right blame the feds. Do you want to lose your job too Stana?"

Olivia grabbed her purse and charged for the door. She pushed past Elliot and slammed the down button on the elevator.

George timidly stuck his head around the corner and said ", Olivia, when you get a chance, your desk needs to be cleared for the new girl."

She flashed him a look of death and he shrunk in his place. "I mean, you know, when you get chance. Take your time."

She then slammed the up button and yelled without looking back at him. "Thanks George, you've got a lot of balls!"

Elliot followed her into the elevator and tried everything he could to ease the stress. "Liv, why don't you go home. I'll get your stuff."

"I'm here. I might as well do it. Unless you need to baby sit me. You know, so I don't get accused of stealing again."

Elliot placed his hand on her shoulder and rubbed the stress out of it. "It's ok, we're gonna fix this. We've been through worse am I right?"

Flatly she stared at the opening elevator doors. "I suppose."

When they entered the office a group of her co-workers were all standing around eating doughnuts and laughing about the day.

Olivia walked to her desk and they all stopped and pretended they weren't starring.

Olivia grabbed a box of paper next to the copy machine and started throwing the packaged paper into a pile next to the filing cabinets.

Elliot stopped her. "Stop."

"I need the box."

"I know. I'll get it for you. Go gather your things."

Olivia turned and the group of lackies all looked quickly in the other direction.

She glared at them and yelled towards their circle. "Yeah, I've been fired. I'm sure you all know that already. Thank you for the support."

Nobody said a word. They all uncomfortably walked to their desks and ignored the mess and noise that her angry desk banging was causing.

"Assholes," she said under her breath.

Olivia's stress level was higher than she'd ever remembered allowing it to be.

She wasn't one to stay in a state of rage for such a long period of time, but it seemed like every time the storm was over a new cloud would knock her down.

It didn't help that everyone around her hopelessly stood around and waited for something to happen.

The consciences were out of their control.

Elliot was the rock she'd always known him to be and even he was having a hard time pulling her through.

It was a time like this when she quickly found out who her real friends were.

Munch and Fin walked through the door with two boxes and a chocolate fudge ice cream cone.

"Sit," Munch said as he forced her into the chair and handed her the ice cream. "We're taking you out of this hell hole. You're talents were only being wasted in this Cracker Jack farm anyway."

Olivia smiled and an emotional tear fell from her eye. "You guys…you… you are truly the bestest friends a person could ask for."

"Damn, straight we are," Fin said. "And we know you won't forget it."

They all had a nice laugh and continued to quickly empty the desk when the office door opened a third time.

Elliot was behind the desk pulling out files and stationary from the bottom drawer when he heard the voice.

"Is this the advocates office?"

Elliot dropped the files and Olivia paused in mid lick.

She stood up and took in every inch of the tall thin nappy haired woman standing feet in front of her with a box and a backpack.

"Dani Beck," Olivia said, breaking the silence.

"Do I know you," she asked.

Fin and Munch turned around and Elliot slowly stood up from behind the desk.

"Dani," Elliot said awkwardly.

"Elliot?! Munch, Fin..what…I knew I'd be working with you, but I had no idea it would be so soon," she beamed as she placed her stuff down and hugged each one of them.

Elliot didn't return the hug. He stood stiff and motionless.

He smiled and backed away from her. "This is Olivia Benson."

Dani gave a questioned look.

"My partner. Well, my ex-partner. My, well she's my," Elliot became tongue-tied.

It was the painful reality of being old and in a more than serious relationship.

He never knew exactly what to call her.

Girlfriend was too high school, Partner was too professional, not to mention gay, and anything else was non-existent at this point in the game.

Olivia's lips tightened and she pushed in between the two of them. "I'm having his baby. It's nice to meet you."

Her blunt crass reaction was a bit of a shock to everyone in the room. But no one was going to argue with a woman who'd just been to hell and back while holding a baby to her insides.

Everybody stood in silence as she held out her hand and Dani took it for the first time with a look of jealous surprise spilling from her face.

AN: Thanks for all the R&R and let me know how you liked the new chapter PEACE OUT YO!


	7. Ever Wanted

**AN: Look out- I'm on a roll- I can't stop writing this story it's like a bad addiction. I made myself late for work today- that's how bad it is. Two chapters in one day my friends. AHHHHHHHHH Thanks for the R&R and enjoy!  
**

**Ever Wanted **

The door to Olivia's apartment swung open.

Elliot stood in the hallway trying to juggle three boxes,

Olivia's purse, and the keys to the door.

"Liv, if you didn't want to go to lunch, we shouldn't have gone," Elliot mumbled through the strap of Olivia's purse, which he held in his mouth.

Olivia stood behind him holding her crotch with one hand and her stomach with the other.

She scrunched her face and pushed past him taking in deep breaths and heading for the bathroom. "OH, what was I supposed to do come home while you went to lunch with that- with _Dani _by yourself?"

Elliot dropped the boxes on the floor and spit out the leather purse strap.

His voice was immediately clear and loud. "No. I didn't have to go."

Olivia sat on the toilet and released everything in her body. "OHHH, god," she cried as the pain lifted from her bladder.

She'd been holding it for at least an hour now.

All through lunch she sat across from Dani in a self-conscious state.

The whole time she fidgeted in the booth; fixing her hair, applying lip-gloss, and occasionally touching and futzing Elliot's arm, hand, and or shoulder.

It was the most torturous two hours of her life.

On top of the obvious reasons of hatred for Dani Beck, Olivia felt like one of the fat bottom girls after being beaten by the ugly stick.

She hadn't bathed in twenty-four hours, her skin felt greasy from being locked in the cell for most of the morning, she didn't have a stitch of make-up on, her hair was pulled into a messy pony tail, and her clothes consisted of blue jeans with an elastic waist band and a gray T-shirt that was stretched across her giant stomach and extra large breasts.

After, several glasses of water and forty minutes of forced conversation, Olivia was on a roll and she was not about to lose her man during a bathroom break.

As soon as they got into the car she cried for Elliot to get them home as quickly as possible, swearing and cussing the whole way.

She finished peeing and sat on the toilet finishing her argument from the bathroom. "Elliot, I was not about to be the ball and chain woman. Besides your whole face lit up when she brought up the idea, how was I supposed to say no?"

"I did not light up," he said as he sat on the floor in the hallway right outside of the bathroom.

She opened the door and looked at him from the toilet. "Elliot, I know I may be hormonal, but I know light when I see it, and you definitely lit."

He starred at her from the floor with out expression.

His bottom lip stuck out just so and he watched her dejectedly from the floor. "Well, I know nothing about the light in my face, but I'm thinking you got it confused with the gas in my stomach."

Olivia's eye's fluttered shut as she pulled herself from the toilet and flushed. "You and the gas. I didn't realize this was such hot topic with you."

"Ah baby, you know you love it. My hot booty makes beautiful music only for you," he jested in his best ladies man impersonation while taking her hand and pulling her onto the floor with him.

She gasped almost irritated with him. "Elliot! Come on."

"What," he whispered nibbling her ear.

"It's gonna take me an hour to get back up."

"Good then I can have my way with you," he grinned as he laid next to her on the ground watching her face and playing with her extra large chest.

Olivia smiled and turned her face away. "You are relentless."

"And you are re…" Elliot was caught up in the size of her breasts. His face fell from her brown eyes as he lifted her shirt and kissed her erect nipples. "You are smok'n hot Olivia Benson."

"Yeah, keep going, you have a lot of shit to make up for."

He stopped kissing her and looked up at her with sad blue eyes. "What? What did I do now?"

"Oh, I don't know," Olivia put on her best man voice and pouted her lips. "Dani?! This is my partner. No Ex- partner. No my other partner- no the woman who I see…. a lot…OH Dani please take me to lunch…please."

Elliot sat up straight and tall with a fake serious face on. "Benson, if you weren't the carrier of my baby I would have to give you a half nelson for brutally tainting my image with such a bad impersonation. Then again seeing that you_ are_ merely an object in my life, I will still find you guilty of all charges."

She laughed and smooshed his cheeks together causing his lips to form a fish face. "Guilty ay? And what's the damage?"

"I sentence you to my gas chamber and relentless tickle punishment."

With that Elliot held her down and tickled her buried rib cage.

They rolled around laughing and squealing, until Olivia's phone rang.

The sound made them both stop breathlessly.

The phone had been the bane of their existence.

Neither one of them wanted to answer it.

The machine picked up and they held each other's gaze.

Elliot was on top of Olivia. His face was inches from hers.

"Liv, it's Dean. I heard about your job. I think I may be able to help. There's an open slot in one of the Manhattan agencies. I think you'd make a great agent. Give me a call."

Olivia pushed Elliot off of her and rolled herself off of the floor.

He followed watching her reaction to the call. "You gonna call him?"

She stood in front of the machine contemplating it. "I don't know. Do you think I should?"

Elliot was afraid to answer. "It's a job."

"Yeah, it is," she said as she starred at his thoughts. "You don't want me to."

"I didn't say that. I just-"

"What? Don't like Dean?"

"Well you wouldn't be working with him would you?"

Olivia walked around her apartment cleaning up dirty dishes and take-out containers.

"Probably. He moved here to- well I don't know why he did. But yes, the Manhattan branch would be where he works."

The coffee cups from the night before were still full on the table. She picked them up and placed them on the kitchen counter next to the sink.

"Do you think that's gonna work out?"

Olivia opened the lid to the coffee cup and pored the cold liquid down the drain. "You're going to be working with Dani. You tell me. Is that going to work out?"

She stopped and looked him in the eye.

He flinched and crossed his arms in a masculine manner. "Yeah. Why wouldn't it? It's Dani."

"My point exactly," Olivia answered as her eyes grew wide.

"Whoa, wait, would do you mean 'your point exactly'?"

"Come on, Elliot. You can't tell me that she didn't take that job to be with you."

"Well- I don't know about that. I mean, she does have a bit of a stocker personality, but I think she'd have to have a good reason to take an _office_ job. Besides I haven't seen or heard from her in months."

Olivia was tiny bit offended by the way he said the words office and job. She turned and grabbed the second coffee cup, then gave him a cold stare. "You didn't have a problem when I took the _office_ job."

"That's not what I meant and you know it."

She turned away from him and nodded her head. "I think I will call Dean."

"Liv, don't be selfish because I did something stupid."

"I'm not being selfish. I'm getting a job, so that we can pay the bills and have a baby."

With that she undid the second coffee cup and dumped the contents into the sink.

Elliot saw the liquid drain from the cup and all of the sudden he remembered what he had done the night before.

"Wait," he jolted as he hit Olivia's hand, splashing the coffee all over the wall and counter.

"Elliot, what are you doing," she cried.

He took the cup from her hand but it was empty.

The thought of it falling into a pile of sludge in the pipes below made him want to smack himself.

He slumped over the sink and starred at the drain.

The hole was wide and full of old food and drips of brown coffee. The shiny ring lay somewhere in the depths of it's goo.

"Damn it," he sighed quietly to himself.

Olivia wasn't sure how to react.

At first she thought he was angry at her for wanting a job with Dean, but the quiet hunch in his back as he hung over the facet made her think otherwise.

"El, are you ok?"

Softly he replied ", Can you get me a wrench please?"

He couldn't believe that he forgot about it.

With all of the hullabaloo that they'd been through in the past forty-eight hours he'd completely forgotten that he'd put the ring in Olivia's coffee cup last night.

Olivia dug around in the closet and handed him a wrench from her toolbox. "What did you do?"

He ignored her questions and got under the sink. "You got a flash light?"

She was already on it. She clicked the flashlight on and held it for him. "What did you lose?"

"My brain, " he answered as he loosened the pipe.

"That's apparent."

She knelt down beside him and watched his arm muscle bulge and flex under the sink. She giggled at the thought of herself watching him.

"What's so funny," he asked.

"This reminds me of a porno I once saw."

He stopped and looked at her with the evil grin she loved so much. "Porno? How scandalous of you Ms. Benson. Should I take my shirt off?"

"You never seem to have a problem with it any other time, so why should you stop now," she smiled.

He dropped the wrench and took off his shirt with one hand. "Come here."

She got onto her hands and knees and touched his rock solid pecks with her neatly manicured fingers. Softly he brought her hand to his mouth and kissed each one. "I love you."

"I love you too," she said plainly.

"No, I mean it."

"So do I," she smiled.

"I want to show you something."

"Does it involve you naked under my sink?"

He grinned, but then stopped himself and got serious. "No, but it could later."

"Ok, so show me."

He took her hand and placed it on the pipe. "I need you to hold that while I pull."

After a few good yanks the U-shaped pipe came loose.

Elliot held it in his hand and shook it. The ring made a sound inside and he smiled as he dumped it into his palm.

Olivia gasped. "What-"

"Shhh," Elliot said as he took her hand from the pipe and held onto it. "Let me finish."

Elliot and Olivia were both leaning in the cabinets like little kids playing hide and seek.

Olivia held the flashlight in one hand and Elliot's hand in the other.

"Olivia Benson, will you, here in a plumbers paradise, accept my proposal of marriage?"

Olivia looked away from him and closed her eyes. She'd thought he would never ask.

The tears started to fall down her cheeks. She turned into an emotional leaky pipe.

Then she looked at him shirtless and holding a dirty ring in his hand under her sink and she started to laugh. "You put my ring in a cup of coffee?"

Elliot's face scrunched into an embarrassed smile. "At the time, it was a brilliant idea."

"Oh Elliot," she sighed laughing at his dumb luck.

Then without warning she grabbed his face and repeatedly replied after each kiss. "Yes, yes, and yes, Elliot Stabler, I will marry you. I'll marry you, and your sense of humor, and your baggage, and your silly mistakes, and your hot ass, and your cute little bottom lip."

She pulled him into her lips for one finale long kiss and he stopped her.

He took his shirt from the ground and polished the diamond ring.

Slowly he slid the gold onto her finger and smiled longingly into her eyes. "You make me so happy. I'm sorry I made you wait I just wanted it to be right. I didn't want to mess things up for you. I want to be different this time. For you. You're my best friend and I can't imagine living one more day without you in it."

Olivia touched the side of his face and softly caressed his cheek. In the glow of the flashlight and the ambiance of an open pipe, Olivia pressed her lips to his and she lightly kissed the only man she ever wanted back.


	8. Girl Talk

**AN: This chapter was by far my favorite chapter to write, so far. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Let me know. Shalom! **

**Girl Talk**

A woman named Samantha, stood in the front of the carpeted lamas room. She had long blonde hair and perfect teeth that sparkled as she smiled excessively and instructed the expected parents through the class.

"Dad's, partners, get in your cradle positions and start with light easy breathing."

Every week Olivia and Elliot would take an hour out of their busy schedule to prepare themselves for the new family they were about to make.

Since starting the class Olivia noticed that their dysfunctions were beginning to morph into a healthy family.

It was a calming class, and except for the over caffeinated-straight-from-the-homemakers-of-America-club instructor, the experience had been one worth having.

This week Elliot had unexpected overtime to tend to and Casey, who was Olivia's next of kin on her labor card, tagged along.

She sat straddling Olivia and uncomfortably took in deep breaths as she whispered wise cracks into her ear. "Liv, you know I love you, He he hooo, but I just want you to know that if you tell anyone, hoooo, the details of this class, He, I will use those Michelle Herman look-a-like pictures of you, He He, and I'm not talking on my refrigerator, Hoooo."

Olivia let all of her air out and gave Casey the grip of death as she held her hand. "You wouldn't."

"Ouch. I would."

Samantha walked around the room and bent over Casey's shoulder. "Casey, take Olivia's hand gently and allow her to relax fully onto your body."

Olivia looked at Casey, who made a confused face and tried to relax so that Olivia could be even closer to her than she'd ever really wanted Olivia to be.

Olivia took in slow breaths with a smile on her face as she held in the largest fit of laughter behind her cheeks.

Casey ignored her and positioned her sit bones. She could feel Olivia trembling and she pulled her back into her chest abruptly while stroking her hand.

"Is that better," she said in her snarky husky voice as Samantha smiled freakishly by her side.

"That's perfeeeeeeeeeect! Why you are just a natural young lady," Samantha squealed in a high –pitched tone.

The look on Casey's face was priceless. It was that half smile, half repulsed look.

When Samantha turned around to go to the next couple Olivia let out all of her giggles almost uncontrollably so.

Casey lightly smacked Olivia on the shoulder. "Jesus, what am I five? Her voice rose like ten octaves."

Olivia took in breaths of air, but not due to lamas practice. "OH…Oh my god, remind me why I asked you to be Elliot's fill-in?"

"Because I'm so f-ing hilarious, and admit it, you get a kick out of cuddling with me." Casey wrapped her arms around Olivia's shoulders and rocked her back in forth in a friendly joking manner.

"How'd you know," Olivia mocked.

The two of them started on a new breathing pattern and slowly fell into their usual patter, breath, pause motions.

"Elliot so owes me a beer after this," Casey said as she squeezed Olivia's hand. "What's he working on?"

"Same case. Catherine Rigby, Ha ha heee. They got a lead from the cell phone, Ha ha. He said they were checking some locations to hopefully bring in the perp."

"Oh yeah, that's right. Huh. Well I haven't gotten a call yet, so they must not have gotten him."

"Ha ha, heee. I just hope that little girl is ok."

"Don't we all." Casey hugged her lightly. "They'll find her. I have a hunch about this one."

"I'm glad somebody does."

Casey had abandoned lamas by this point and was flat out talking. "So how about that Dani Beck?"

"Hee Hee Haaaa. What about her?"

"Oh come on, she's such a piece of shit. I can't believe she had the balls to take that job."

"I'm sure, he he, that she didn't know."

"Ha! Please, she knew. I saw her at the precinct a month before you were fired. She was applying way back then. I'm sure she knew."

"Really," Olivia paused, and then continued trying to keep her thoughts positive. "Even if she did know, he he hoo, she didn't know who I was. I just met her."

"Liv, she knew who you were. She and Elliot fought about you constantly. Elliot was like working with a back seat driver. He did nothing but compare her to you the whole time."

Olivia slightly smiled. "Elliot said she had trouble dealing with the job. I'm sure it had to do with that more than anything."

"No, I'm sure it had to do with you. The office is crazy without you. It's like a sausage fest. I can't handle it. You're the only one that can wrangle those men when their testosterone gets the best of them. I feel like a mother hen, but mother hen I am not. I mean, let's face it I can't even get you through this one-hour class. I really don't know how you're coping with all of these changes. I'd be ripping my hair out."

"What do you mean by cope?"

Casey was starting to talk louder and several of the other couples moved away from them. "I mean, the sacrificing of your job, the losing of your new job, and now Elliot has to work with his ex-one night stand. How are you so calm? I would be livid."

"Casey, I trust Elliot and I know what Dani is capable of."

"And that doesn't scare you?"

"I don't know Dani personally, but I give her three months at that job. He HE hooo. And, I'm pretty sure I could take her down if I had to."

Casey laughed and fell over on her back taking in gasps of air through her laughter. "I would pay to see that."

"Oh dear, you're really getting into it now, nice work," Samantha said as she passed the two chatterboxes.

"Liv, you are my hero. Nothing fazes you. I wish I could kick somebody's ass. I couldn't even have a baby. This class is freaking me out. Next week I'm going get a hysterectomy and call it a day."

Olivia chuckled and started her breathing exercises again, while Casey kept on talking. "Liv, you're having a baby. _You_! And you're getting married, not to mention you'll be having a wedding soon."

Olivia sat up in horror. "Wedding? I didn't even think of that. Do I have to have a wedding?"

"Of course you do. Why wouldn't you?"

"Well I'm not exactly bride material at the moment," she said referring to her stomach.

"Yeah, well, you have to take care of that first. Oh, I'm so excited. You're going to be the bride I always wanted to be," she squealed.

"You've always wanted a shot gun wedding?"

"Yes, Liv, I've always wanted to squeeze myself into a white dress with boobs like yours," she sarcastically replied. "This is going to be exciting. You're gonna have that baby and I'm going to work your body into super model shape. Look out Bridal magazine, Liv Benson is going to take you down with her hotness."

"Now, now, let's not get carried away. I'm not even sure I want to a big wedding with all of that."

The class was switching into a new position and the two of them followed the movements like a dance that they already knew, while continuing the conversation.

"What do you mean you don't want a wedding?!"

"Elliot's already been married, and we'll have had a baby by that point. I think the whole white dress church thing would be a little hypocritical don't you?"

Casey sighed. "I guess."

Olivia rubbed her arm and gave her a sympathetic look. "You should save those ideas for your wedding."

"Right if only I could fuck somebody that wasn't married, gay, or uncommitted."

"I thought you were seeing Trevor Langon?"

"If you mean fucking, then yes, but seeing him. The answer is hardly ever. I'm usually drunk and naked when he calls. He's great, but he's got serious commitment issues. Which is fine for me. I don't need a relationship."

Olivia looked up at Casey and smiled faintly at her. "Yes, you do. You just don't want to admit it."

"Maybe," she sighed.

"Oo," Olivia gasped.

Casey freaked out. "What?! Oh my god, please don't go into labor."

"No, it's not labor. She's a kicker."

Olivia grabbed Casey's hands and placed them on her stomach. Casey's harden tomboy attitude melted at the touch of her stomach and the feeling of the baby's light bumps. "Wow. That's surreal."

"Isn't it amazing, " Olivia smiled as she watched Casey's reactions. "Thanks for coming with me."

"Liv, you know I'd do anything you needed."

The class was over and everyone started to file out of the room. Casey pulled Olivia from the ground and they headed for the streets.

"Shall I walk you home Mama Benson," Casey said grabbing Olivia's arm and linking it to hers.

"I would like that. What time is it?"

"8pm."

Olivia was in a serene state.

She loved having girl time with Casey.

She was the only girl friend that Olivia had at the moment. Keeping friend wasn't exactly easy for Olivia to accomplish, especially women friends.

There was always drama with women and Olivia just wanted to roll her eyes and have a beer.

But every now and again she needed to feel like a girl and she would call Casey and they would gossip like the best of them.

Now that she had gads of time on her hands, she thought about friends a lot.

She wanted to be surrounded by her friends again. It was the number one thing that she missed the most about her job.

Quietly she starred in front of them and said ", I wonder how the boys are doing."

Casey checked her cell phone then grinned at Olivia. "Let's go find out."

SCENE

Dani Beck sat on the corner of Elliot's messy desk and got in his face about the victim he just accused her of scaring.

"Elliot, I was only trying to get her to remember the perp. This guy is still out there. You need to get him before he disappears."

"Dani, you're not a detective anymore. That's not your job. You're job is to make the victim feel comfortable and provide her with legal aid. You can't ask her questions about the perp. It's unprofessional and because of the way you handled it, we're going to have to start at square one."

Olivia and Casey walked through the doors and Elliot's face lit up. "Liv, baby!"

"And Casey, too," Casey added darkly.

Elliot stood up, gently grabbed her face for a kiss, and then whispered into her ear. "Did I light up for you?"

She rubbed the small of his back and smiled a comforting warm grin. "Yes, my love, I believe you lit."

"Good," he replied and turned to Casey. "How was lamas Case?"

"Torturous," she replied as she made herself a cup of coffee.

Dani sat in silence as the three of them interacted without acknowledging her. She checked her watch and got up to leave. "El, I'll be back"

"Ok."

"Hi, Dani," Olivia waved.

Dani nodded and pushed past them.

Before she could fully leave the room Catherine Rigby, George Stana, and a social worker exited one of the offices from the back.

"Olivia!," Catherine cried.

"Catherine," Olivia beamed.

The little girl ran straight into Olivia's arms and hugged her tightly.

"I thought I would never see you again."

Olivia rubbed her back. "I thought I'd never see you again. You gave us a scare."

Dani watched and jealously fumed from the doorway. She messed up yet again, and like clock work Olivia Benson was stealing the limelight and reaping the benefits.

She tossed her braided ponytail to the side and walked over to Catherine.

"Catherine, honey, come on, you need to stay with your social worker. Remember what we said about talking to strangers."

Catherine's face scrunched in fear and Olivia turned her head to give Dani a confused looked of death.

"No," Catherine cried. "Olivia's not a stranger. And I don't want to go with the social worker. I don't want to leave again. Why can't I stay here?"

Catherine clung to Olivia's side and hysterically started to cry.

"Don't make me leave. Don't make me!"

Olivia knelt down and hugged the little girl. "Catherine, sweetheart. It's ok. You need to calm down. Everybody here wants to help you. "

Catherine sniffed and held onto Olivia's arm. "That's what the man said and then he locked me in a trunk."

"What man Catherine?"

"The man who said he was taking me to your house."

Olivia looked up at Elliot with concern on her face and he knelt down beside Olivia. "Catherine, what did the man look like?"

Olivia smiled at Catherine who was afraid to answer. "Go ahead. It's ok."

"He was tall with black hair."

Dani watched with fury in her chest. They'd been working on this girl for two hours and Olivia walks in and gets her to open up in two minutes.

"What was he wearing," Elliot asked.

"He had on a fireman's helmet."

"Did you get a good look at his face," he continued.

"No the helmet was over his face."

Olivia squeezed Catherine's hand. "You're doing a great job. How did you see his hair?"

"He took it off before he closed the trunk. I saw the back of him. I'm tired. Can I sleep at your house tonight," she sobbed.

"Give her to me," Dani said in an angry tone as she pushed Olivia to the side and grabbed Catherine by the arm.

"Hey," Olivia cried standing up to face her. "Dani-"

"Catherine, you have to go with your social worker. We've already gone through this. Now buck up."

Olivia pulled Dani's arm away from Catherine's. "Stop it!"

Catherine stood in silence with fear on her face. Olivia bent over and took off the gold chain around her neck. "Catherine, honey, you can't stay with me. I don't have a bed for you. But I'm going to give you something that will keep you strong."

Olivia held the gold box in front of her face. "Can you read what's on there?"

Catherine grabbed the necklace. "Fearless."

"That's right. I wear this necklace to remind me to stay strong. I'm going to give it you, and anytime you feel scared you hold onto it and think about being strong. Ok?"

Catherine wiped her eyes and nodded. Olivia pulled her hair back and placed the necklace around her neck. "Now you're strong just like me. So Josey, your social worker, is going to take you to the best foster parents that she has. Is that right Josey?"

Josey was a middle-aged woman with a shapely figure and a jolly smile. "That's right, Catherine. I've got my best parents in the city waiting for you. They have a bed made and hot chocolate boiling on the stove. I promise you will be safe this time."

"See that," Olivia said with a smile.

Josey held out her hand and Catherine took it.

"Good night pretty girl," Olivia said.

"Good night," Catherine replied as the two of them walked out of the room followed by George Stana who quietly squeezed Olivia's arm and mouthed a silent "Thank you."

Dani angrily grabbed her files from Elliot's desk and gave Olivia a dirty eye.

"Dani, I didn't mean to butt in, but you have to be patient-"

"Don't tell me how to do my job Olivia. I'm capable of figuring it out. "

"I'm sure you_ are_ capable, but you aren't acting like it," Olivia said almost harshly.

Casey almost choked on her coffee.

Dani got up in Olivia's face. "Shouldn't you be at a job interview?"

"Shouldn't you be adjusting your attitude. You're suppose to help the victim not scare them."

"You bitch, I wouldn't have to scare them if everyone wasn't breathing down my back all day reminding me that you did the job better," Dani said building it into a yell.

Elliot stepped in between them and tried to calm the fire. "Ladies calm down. This is getting personal."

Dani pushed Elliot aside. "Oh why don't you can it Elliot?"

"Hey," Olivia snapped before pushing Dani away from Elliot. "You don't push him."

"I'll do what ever the hell I feel like." And with that she pushed Elliot again.

He grabbed her arm and looked her in the eye. "Dani, don't do this. Go walk it off. It's been a long night."

She smacked him in the face and Olivia pushed Elliot out of the way. "You crazy whore. Why did you take this job? You can't even control your temper in a social situation let alone a stressful one."

Dani yelled in her face. "OH you know everything don't you Olivia! You're just the woman with it all! Except that it took you eight years to get Elliot in bed and I had him in the palm of my hand on the first day."

"It's called a rebound, bitch. You were nothing more than an unpaid prostitute."

Dani pushed Olivia towards the other side of the room and slowly held her evil gaze at Olivia's face. " You only got the ring because he knocked you up."

Olivia took a step towards Dani and punched her in the eye hard.

Dani didn't even take a beat to think about it, she pulled Olivia onto a nearby desk causing papers and office supplies to go flying everywhere.

Elliot tried to pull Dani from Olivia and got elbowed in the stomach. "OWWW," he cried out.

Olivia grabbed Dani's hair and slammed her face onto the desk.

She then grabbed her arm and pulled it back causing Dani to cry out in pain. "Why did you take this job, Dani? Did you do it because you were lonely? Were you jealous? Or do you just like working three feet under my shadow?"

Dani's face was smashed into the desk and she spoke through the side of mouth. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Olivia pulled her head from the desk and smashed it back down again. "Yes, I would. Tell me you didn't get me fired and I won't break you arm."

Dani spit in Olivia's face. "I don't know what you're talking about. You controlling bitch."

Casey was left alone in the room as Elliot ran to get Chester Lake from the crib.

She stood in a mixed state of panic and hysteria. She didn't know whether to laugh or pull out her baseball bat. Seeing that Olivia was in the lead she allowed the fight to continue for selfish reasons.

Olivia mashed Dani's face a little harder into the desk and cranked her arm back a little further. "Don't fuck with me. You stole me files didn't you? Who do you have working for you Beck? Tell me! Tell me!" Olivia started pulling her arm back harder and harder.

Elliot pulled her off just in time. Olivia was about to snap Dani's arm in half. Chester grabbed Dani and held back her arms as she fought to break free. "YOU…She… she's crazy!"

Olivia yelled in her direction. "Oh come on I'm not naïve. Why else would you take an office job?"

"Do you think I actually have that much time on my hands?"

"Hmm, you're single, childless, and for awhile there, you had no job. So yes! I do, Dani."

Dani slumped over in Chester's arms and after a moment Chester loosened his grip.

Dani lightly pushed him aside and stood dejectedly in the center of the room. "I took the desk job for the same reason you did. Had I known it was your job I wouldn't have taken it."

Slowly she headed for the door. Everyone stood motionless in the mess of the office. Elliot paused for a moment and then ran towards Dani touching her arm. "Did you have a-"

"Don't worry. It's not yours."

Olivia felt completely foolish and terrible inside.

She stood next to Casey vibrating with guilty energy.

Casey looked at her and knew that Olivia was going to eat herself up for weeks.

Silently she gazed at her friend with a message of "Who knew?" written all of her face.

Olivia shook her head and walked quietly to the elevator in a stance of shame.


	9. Papa Don't Preach

**Papa Don't Preach **

Olivia sat on the steps of the precinct with her head in her hands. She couldn't believe what had just happened.

It was one of the most irrational irresponsible things that she'd ever done.

When she lost her job an angry bitter grudge had slowly eaten at her heart.

She'd never felt this kind of darkness before. It was unnerving and uncontrollable.

After Elliot proposed it had subsided, but when Casey brought up all of the things in her life that petrified her, that little black bug taunted her again. This time it had gone too far.

Elliot walked up from behind and sat on the step next her. Quietly he stared out into the street. "How's your hand?"

She looked at her bruised knuckles without moving from her hunched position. "Better than Dani's face," she mumbled.

"What's going on with you? Talk to me Liv."

Without looking at him she lifted her head from her hand and let out a sigh of air. "I don't really know. It was this uncontrollable…god…I don't know, Elliot. I don't know. Casey and I were talking about Dani before we got there and I saw her and she pushed that one button and I….I snapped. I just started making things up in my mind. Every word that came out of her mouth was like a piece to my troubled puzzle. I think I may need to get help."

Elliot nodded silently. "Sounds about right."

She turned her face to look at him. "How long have you noticed?"

"Since the day you took that office job."

Her lip twitched at the thought of it.

"Liv, I know you miss your job. Why don't you come back? I'll transfer. We won't get to see each other, but if that will make you happy it will be worth it."

Olivia looked into his eyes and almost cried. "No, I can't do that. I can't do that to you. Absolutely not. I do miss my job, but we can't raise this child under that kind of pressure. We've already decided that."

"Well maybe it was the wrong decision."

Confused about what was the right answer, Olivia sat quietly and starred at the sky.

Finally, she looked at Elliot's understanding face and softened her brow. "Thank you, but I need to find another way. I can't uproot you. There are just a lot of changes happening all at once. I can't keep up with it. Not having a job and being put in positions that I've never even touched upon, it's more than I can handle. I feel like I'm missing something and the void is eating me alive. It's taken over all my ability to control my actions and my temper. I almost feel like I need to find myself again. Like I've lost my niche."

As she talked her temper started to grow in her voice and in her eyes.

Elliot grabbed her shaking hands. "Shhh. Liv, what are you afraid of?"

She held her immediate thoughts inside and when Elliot let the silence go on longer than she'd wanted him to, she swallowed and looked at him with red eyes.

"What if I'm not good at this," she said referring to him and the baby inside of her stomach.

"Liv, the fact that you are even thinking about not getting something right, means that you care enough to give it your all. And that's all you can do. You are going to be fine. We're going to be fine. "

"I have no idea what to expect. I mean, I can read as many books as I want to, but this job is completely unpredictable."

"So is being a cop and that never stopped you from being the best."

"Yes, but as a detective, I knew how to handle myself. The perps and the victims, they're unpredictable, but their choices only affected me if I wasn't in control with myself. I was only responsible for myself and I knew exactly how to control that, but now…now, there is going to be this baby and she's going to have a mind of her own. Her life is dependent on me. That's a frightening thought. Her decisions are going to affect me and visa versa. And not knowing how to teach that the right way is driving me to insanity."

Elliot listened and pulled her hand into his lap. He nodded slightly and added ", Do you remember when you asked me if I ever worried about how my kids were going to turn out?"

"Yes."

"You were worried about passing bad genes down to your children."

"And you then said, and I quote ', and look how good you turned out.' Yes, I remember that fondly."

"Well, remember it again, because like you said, your daughter is going to have a mind of her own, and I'll tell yeah, sometimes it doesn't matter how good you raise them, they are going to always make mistakes and cause you worried strife."

"That's comforting," she sarcastically huffed.

"I'm not trying to scare you, I'm just saying that you need to drop those thoughts right now and just take things one day at a time. "

Olivia lightly grinned and self-consciously looked at the ground knowing that he was right.

He was always right about these issues. She often wondered how he could put up with her.

That was the next biggest fear weighing her heart down.

He starred at her waiting for the next thing to come out of her mouth.

He knew by the way her eyes tilted downward that raising a child wasn't the only thing causing her to live in torment and frustration.

As the city passed by them on the sidewalk she took a moment to allow the knot in her stomach to loosen and then she said it ", I miss us. I mean, I love the new us. I do. But I miss the old us. And I wish we could have both."

Elliot put his arm around her. He had those thoughts every day. It was almost comforting to know that she thought them too. "I know. Trust me, Lake is a great guy, but sometimes I feel like I'm working two shifts just to make up for the shit that he misses. Plus you're so much prettier to look at."

Olivia pushed Elliot's arm to the side and wrapped herself around his middle.

Softly she continued ", Elliot, not working next to you is like a small hell. Just thinking about somebody else sitting in my desk and on my side of the squad car makes me physically ill. I find myself thinking that if I can't work with you, I don't want to work at all. And then I start thinking about terrible things that I know you would never do. Like have an affair, or go back to Kathy, or run because I'm crazy. It's like I'm afraid that you're going to leave me and I'm not even going to have you as a friend when it's over. Why did you pick me? What is so different? How can I know that you're not going to fall out of love with me like you did with Kathy? And I just feel like there is still so much that I need to know about you in order to be a good wife. You do so much for me, and I have no idea how to make you happy when comes to things like family and…gosh I don't know ironing your shirts. I mean, is there something that I need to be doing to fulfill these shoes. I know how to be your friend, but I have no idea how to be your wife. "

"Liv, I love you for that. I don't need anyone to iron my-"

Olivia squeezed him and stopped his thoughts. "No, no, Elliot, I don't even really want you to answer those questions. I mean, I do, but not really. Answering those questions is like asking you to promise something that is completely unpredictable. It's like asking somebody to tell them that they love you. That's not fair to anyone. I have to learn that on my own. And there it is. I'm out of my element again. I'm out of control. Life is a string of endless unpredictable circles and I'm stuck in the middle of it tying myself into knots."

"I want to take you somewhere," Elliot said out of conversation.

"What?"

Olivia's thoughts were pulled to a halt and Elliot stood up and forced her from the stairs. "I've shared everything I possibly could with you except for one thing. I can't believe that I've missed this. Well I can believe it, because for months I've been too ashamed to even go there myself, but now couldn't be a better time for it. Come with me."

Elliot held onto Olivia's hand and they headed south down the sidewalk.

Elliot was all of the sudden in a light-hearted mood. He was almost joyful. He swung Olivia's arm back and forth and spoke with a distinct confident pride. "Liv, let me tell you something about Kathy and I."

"Ok," she said almost nervous to hear what he had to say.

"When I met Kathy, I was infatuated, which is different from love. She was pretty and she gave me attention, which I craved at the time, and I was happy with her. She was my high school sweetheart. She was a sweetheart. She still is, but we weren't taking life seriously back then. I don't think that I was ever in love with Kathy. I love her, but I was never head over heals _in _love with her. After the first week that we dated I never got butterflies on a regular basis. I didn't feel sparks when she walked into the room. I mean, maybe at prom, or when she held my children in her hands for the first time, but never on her own. And I know that people say that you shouldn't base a relationship on those feelings alone, but let me tell you, they are very important feelings to have. I always found myself doubting my feelings for her, but I thought that it was something that everybody went through. It was normal to not have those feelings for a person you've known for umpteen years. Staying with her was the right thing and she was the mother of my daughter and then my children, so I made it work. It was the Catholic thing to do."

"Ok, so far I'm still not seeing a difference between that situation and this one."

Elliot gave her a smartass stare. "Will yeah, give me a minute here Ms. Benson, I'm trying to pour my heart out and you're talking all over it," he sharply grinned.

She smiled and poked him on the side. "My bad. Continue."

Elliot cleared his throat and moved on. "Thank you. Now this is going to sound completely cliché, I mean, I really want to vomit in my own mouth thinking about it, but the first day that you walked in the room and asked me where Don Cragen's office was, every doubt I ever had about Kathy became the truth."

"The first day?"

"Yes, the first day. You introduced yourself, I touched your hand, and Bam there were the butterflies. And then of course we fought about who was going to drive, and that was it, I knew there was something different about you that I had never touched upon in my life. At the time, I didn't know what those feelings meant, but I do now. I've known you for eight years and you still give me butterflies at any given point of the day. You could be in your most stained pair of sweat pants with greasy hair and a bad attitude, and still, you will do things that shake my world. I have no doubts about you. None. I am utterly smitten and there's nothing to be worried about. I don't need you to do wifely chores or iron my shirt. That's not why I love you. And I have no problems promising you my life, because I already know what it's like to not be in love. And this is different. This is what was meant to be."

Elliot stopped outside of an old church and pulled her close to him as he rubbed her tummy. "Olivia, I've never taken you to church. I need you to understand how much you mean to me, but if you don't have faith in this relationship, it doesn't matter how many therapists or jobs you go through, it's not going to work."

"Oh Elliot, I want to go to church with you, I do, but not like this. Not now."

"Yes, now. You're hurting. You're lost. I'm not asking you to convert or change your life, but spirituality and mediation are big things in my life and I want you to share that with me. Please try it. We'll pray together. You'll feel better."

Olivia bit her bottom lip. The only time she'd been to church was during a crime scene or an investigation. Oh and that one time she went with a friend from school. The idea of it made her skeptical, but she wanted to give Elliot her all. With a squeeze to Elliot's hand she stood up straight and took a step towards the door. "Ok. Show me your peace."

SCENE

Olivia laughed with that cute wrinkle between her nose and Elliot knew things were going to be ok. He opened the door to his apartment and they walked inside and slumped tiredly onto the couch.

After their laughter diminished a light sound could be heard from Elliot's bedroom.

They both listened for a moment and noticed the clothing thrown about the room.

Elliot looked at Olivia and she gave him a quizzical stare.

They both stood up and walked near the door and the sound of Maureen's cries threw Elliot into angry fury.

He slammed open the door, and there on top of his daughter, in his bed, was a young man with black hair pumping his naked body into hers.

"What the hell are you doing," Elliot yelled.

"Daddy!," Maureen cried pushing the guy off of her and covering herself with the blankets.

"Oh shit," mumbled the guy in a frenzied panic as he reached for a pillow to hide himself from their company.

"Maureen Stabler, get out of my room, now!"

"Daddy it's not what you think."

Benson lay on the floor in the middle of some toys and the shouting caused him to fuss.

Elliot was furious at what he saw and stood in the doorway yelling at full volumes. "Have you lost your mind? I would think having your son in the same room would have been birth control enough, but obviously it wasn't."

Maureen stood up and tried to pick Benson off the ground as she held the blanket around her body. "Daddy, this is Travis. This is Benson's father."

"Hey," Travis said still standing like a statue behind the bed with a pillow over his privates.

Elliot's eyes were bulging out of his head. "I don't care if he's the president of the god damn United States. You don't put out for every guy that walks into your life, Maureen. What happened to the idea of waiting for Marriage? Didn't you learn the first time? Get the hell out of my bedroom."

Travis picked up his clothes awkwardly and headed for the front door.

Maureen ran after Travis with Benson dangling from her one arm. He was screaming and she was hysterically angry. "Travis don't leave. Daddy, you're being unreasonable and you have no room to talk."

"Travis get out of my house," Elliot waved.

Maureen grabbed Travis' clothes and stepped into Elliot's face. "Why do you have to be like this? I'm an adult."

"An adult living in my house, on my money, and on my rules."

Benson was throwing a fit and Olivia quietly took him from Maureen's arms and walked away from the argument. She wasn't sure who to agree with, so she decided to stay out of it completely.

"Travis is the father of my child, and he wants to be a part of our lives."

"Oh he does," Elliot yelled looking at the skinny slump of a boy in the kitchen. "Where the hell have you been Travis? The kid's almost a year old."

Travis stood in the kitchen with his boxer shorts on, shaking his head dumb-foundedly. "I…I'm sorry sir. I didn't know."

Maureen's blanket was sliding from her body as she wailed her arms around and yelled ", you don't even know him and he wasn't around because I didn't tell him."

"So, what, you told him and then screwed him in my bed. That's really responsible Maureen."

"Oh you're one to talk DAD! How many accidents have you had now?"

Olivia's heart skipped a beat as she tried desperately to ignore the statement. Elliot glanced at Olivia who quickly turned away bouncing and shooshing little Benson.

"Watch you mouth. That's different."

"How is that any different?"

"Maureen, do you want to make the same mistakes I did? Do you really want to spend twenty two years of your life pretending to be in love with someone or do you want to wait for the right person and be happy, because right now you're on your way to a hard dismal life."

Maureen blinked at his father and then to Olivia. She knew he was right.

She'd never seen her father as happy as he was when he was with Olivia. She definitely wanted that happiness.

And she certainly didn't know if she was in love with Travis.

Travis, who walked towards the two of them and tried to intervene, interrupted her loss of words.

"Hey, Mr. Stabler, it's ok. I happen to really like your daughter. The fact that she had my baby was just an added bonus."

Elliot turned his gaze to Travis'. If fire could shoot from his eyes it would have.

Olivia took that moment to step in and touch Elliot's arm, reminding him that violence wasn't the answer. Like she had room to say anything about anger at this point in her life.

She took Travis' clothes from Maureen's hands and handed them to the boy. "Travis, why don't you go to the bathroom and get changed."

Elliot and Maureen stood speechless and motionless in the living room. Olivia touched Maureen's shoulder and pointed her towards her bedroom. The blanket billowed around her feet and as she slowly turned away from her father.

Elliot shook his head as he walked to the refrigerator and got himself a beer. "I can't believe…out of all the guys she could bring home, she had to pick the guy that can't even say his name let alone support a family."

Olivia leaned on the kitchen counter next to him and laid her head on his shoulder. "Now, now, you have to be careful about what you say. Whether she decides to be with him or not, the guy is still Ben's father."

Ben was half asleep in Olivia's arms. Elliot took a swig of beer and kissed Olivia on the forehead.

"I love you," he sighed exhausted from the day. "Let's take the Ben and go back to your place. Let her dish this out on her own."

"Sounds like a marvelous plan, Papa Stabler."

**AN: Happy 4th! Thanks for reading. Drop me your thoughts! **


	10. Haters

**AN: Sam I loved your idea so much that I'm going for it. Title has been officially changed.  
**

**Haters  
**

Allen Roberts was a persistent man. When the cell phone from Catherine Rigby's case rang with a special text message for the 1-6 precinct, all of his suspicions were put on hold.

Olivia Benson was out of the picture and the detectives were handed a location and the living unharmed body of the girl.

Allen had to wonder why somebody would go out of their way to kidnap a child just to return her three days later with not one scratch on her body and food in her stomach.

With no other sources and no real harm done, the unit was pressed to move on.

The week went by and new cases came in.

Allen was assigned to new case work, but in the back of his mind he consistently thought about it.

He robotically moved through the security metal detectors and walked like he was holding a stick up his ass through the long hallways of the FBI's Manhattan headquarters.

Just as his eyes felt heavy from lack of sleep and the beginning of the day faded into reality he rounded the corner and saw her.

Tall, dark, glowing, and headed right for the 50-80th floor elevators like she'd owned the building.

Allen slipped into the elevator behind her and when she turned to press the button their eyes met for the first time.

"Allen," Olivia said with a hint of bitter annoyance.

"Olivia Benson, what brings you to my neck of the woods?"

"Business," was all she said before turning her face in the direction of the doors and watching the lighted numbers slowly rise.

Allen squirmed behind her. "You're not planning on working here are you, Benson?"

The elevator dinged open and Olivia stepped out of the small space before turning to look at him. "I do work here," she said as the doors closed on Allen's slack jawed reaction.

Allen stewed in his thoughts all the way to the seventy-th floor.

It's not that he had it in for Olivia, but he did have it in for her neighborhood super hero act.

As long as Allen could remember Olivia Benson was getting the ticker tape parade and a plethora of leniencies.

He was convinced that Olivia was nothing but a rule bender and a show off.

She was on the front page of the New Yorker far more than he'd cared to see, and because of her heroic fame she'd gotten away with more than he was comfortable with.

These equations made it easy for Olivia to get away with murder and Allen had no doubt in his mind that she could pull it off if she needed to.

Allen marched into his office and sifted through the paper work on his desk. The Rigby case shuffled in his mind.

The only reason he even got the case was because of a lead pointing to terrorism.

The original perps they were trying to catch were said to be using abducted children and anal explosives.

All of the cases lead them to a leak in the child services department and someone with access to background checks and facility files.

When the call came that the Manhattan Children's home was on fire and potentially targeted, Federal agents were put on high alert to make sure that every child was accounted for.

The rat in the system was still eating his…or her way through their files, but Allen was on a mission to be the first man to set a trap.

He had no reason not to suspect Olivia Benson and now that she had wormed her way into his building, it was his goal to keep an eye on her.

Even if Olivia wasn't involved in the abduction, then who was, and how were they connected to the hot-headed brunette.

The owner of the cell phone was still a ghost and the edited videotape came back clean.

All Allen could figure was if Olivia wasn't the culprit then someone was setting her up and in turn could lead him to the raise he so evidently deserved.

Money wasn't his only factor. To him Olivia was personal. There was something about her success that drove him mad.

Allen couldn't keep the grin Olivia gave him in the elevator out of his thoughts.

The shear goody two shoes attitude that came from her tilted lips made his hands wring.

He quickly picked up the cup of coffee from his desk and dumped the hot liquid down his throat. Then he grabbed his badge and headed to the 52nd floor, Federal sex crimes. He was going to make sure everyone on her floor knew how reliable she could actually be.

SCENE

"Dean, hi," Olivia smiled as she walked into her office and dumped her briefcase next to her desk.

Dean sat in a chair finishing a phone call. He nodded and quickly ended the call as she sat at her brand new Federal executive desk.

Olivia crossed her legs and held herself with a confident sweetness in the smart black and white skirt suit that she wore.

Dean took in her radiant smile and sat back in his chair. "Look at you, Olivia. I bet you never thought you'd be sitting in that chair."

Olivia laughed ", you're right I didn't. Thank you, for recommending me."

"Are you settled in?"

"Ah…kind of, "Olivia said with a nervous smile. "I mean, I won't be out on a case for a while. You know until-"

"The baby, right."

"But, so far I feel good. Intense, but good."

Dean stood up and winked at her before turning for the door. "I knew you'd fit in here. Well, I've got a day, but I wanted to stop by to welcome you to the team. I'll see you at lunch."

"Oh," Olivia didn't have a chance to say anything else Dean was gone and waving at the secretary before she could even think about pulling herself from the leather chair. "Ok, lunch. Thanks for asking, _Dean_. _Dino_."

She flicked the eraser of her pencil to the top of her desk and mumble to herself ", you know cause I had plans, but you are just so much more important. Dean Porter."

"Ms. Benson."

Her secretary's voice pierced through the intercom. Olivia jumped and threw the pencil onto her desk.

"Yes," she replied with a forced air of confidence.

"Rodger Wilson on line one."

Olivia futzed with the high tech phone and pressed the intercom button again. "Thanks Eileen."

She sat and starred at the buttons trying to remember what she had to push first in order to get line one to connect. "Eileen?"

"9 and then line 1."

Eileen hates me, she thought. "Thank you."

She waited for a response and then mouthed a "Your welcome", before clicking onto Rodger's line.

SCENE

"Did you watch 'Die Hard' last night," Chester said as he and Elliot headed into the Precinct.

"Naw. I was too busy dieing in Olivia's terribly hard bed. "

"Oh, man it's my favorite movie," Chester cried as he gave a few punches to the air and went into his best Bruce Willis. "You mother fucker. I'm gonna kill you. I'm gonna fuck'n cook you and I'm gonna fuck'n eat you!"

Elliot curled his lip and joined in. "Now I know what a TV dinner feels like."

They both laughed and Chester slapped Elliot on the back. "Yeah! That's what I'm talking about man. That shit gets me pumped!"

Elliot's laughter stopped, when he rounded the corner and saw Allen Roberts hanging over his desk fingering his picture of him and Olivia at her going away party.

He placed a toothpick in his mouth and grabbed the photo from Allen's hand. "You want to keep your filthy hands off my desk Roberts?"

"Elliot, I need to speak with you."

"About what?"

Allen looked at Chester, who stood next to Elliot with his arms crossed, and then back to Elliot. "Privately, detective."

Elliot's bottom lip stiffened and he followed Allen into a conference room. "What's up?"

"I need to ask you about Olivia Benson."

"What now?"

"Well I'm just taking a stab in the dark here, but you and her are involved. Am I accurate about that?"

Elliot squinted unable to even think about the fact that this moron works for the terrorist division of the FBI. "I really don't' think that's any of your business and what's it to you?"

"I'll take that as a yes. What is her involvement with the FBI?"

"You work there. Why don't you tell me?"

His question answers were irritating Allen. Allen's eye twitched and he threw down his brief case. "Detective, I'm only trying to clear your ex-partner's name, now you can choice to cooperate or I can start an official investigation."

Elliot thought for a moment about what exactly Allen was trying to find. He pushed the toothpick back and forth in his mouth and then cracked his neck. "My only knowledge of Ms. Benson's involvement is that she is now working for the sex crimes department and that she is very good at her job. If you need anything more than that you'll have to ask her yourself."

Elliot turned to leave but then stopped himself. "As long as we're unofficial, what may I ask are you needing this information for?"

"Its classified information."

"Does this have to do with the Rigby case, cause I can tell you, you're wasting your time. She is not connected to your little child trafficking terrorist group, ok?"

Elliot's temper started to boil. He got close to Allen's face. "Now, I realize you're, 'just doing you job', but I'd appreciate it if you took your ass off of your head and started looking at different avenues. This issue is saturated. If you're still not satisfied – make it official ok buddy."

Allen sniffed in his nose hair and wiped his sweaty forehead with a tissue. "You can bully me all you want, but I know that you're hiding something. I'll figure her out detective. I will figure her out."

Elliot was already out of the door before Allen could finish.

He headed for the streets to take his lunch break. Clicking on his phone he called Olivia.

"You've reached Olivia Benson, Federal Agent in sex crimes and child pornography. Leave a message and someone will report back to you within 24 hours. Thank you."

"Liv, it's me. I'm heading to lunch early. Meet me when you can. Love you."

SCENE

Dean pulled the chair from the fancy table in one of Manhattan's finest restaurants. Olivia took the seat and sat uncomfortably across form Dean.

Dean smiled at her and opened his menu. "This is my favorite place. It's great to actually sit down and catch up with you. It's been months. How are you?"

"I'm great. I've made a lot of changes since the last time you've seen me. Elliot and I are-"

Dean pulled the waitress to the table. "Can we get a bottle of Cabernet, please."?

"Um, Dean, I can't drink that."

Dean paused and looked at her for a moment. "Oh. Oh yeah, I guess you can't. She'll take-"

"I'll have water please. That will be just fine."

The waitress smiled and asked ", would you like sparkling, bottled, distilled, iced, or flavored?"

Olivia's mouth hung open trying to figure out how water could suddenly become so high maintenance. " Ahh….tap?"

The waitress lifted her head from her notepad and embarrassingly mumbled. "I'm sorry, we don't have tap water."

"She'll have bottled," Dean replied grabbing the menu from Olivia's hand. "Don't worry about the menu. I know exactly what you'll like. Just trust me."

"Well, Dean, there are a lot of things that I can't eat at the moment, so I'd really like to look-"

"Olivia, there's nothing here you can't eat."

"That's really not the point. I'd like to see the m"

"So when are you due?"

Olivia blinked back her aggravation and smiled. "Four weeks."

"Wow, that's around the corner."

"Yep."

"How's the job coming along?"

" I'm just getting the hang of it. Before I know it I'll be on a hiatus. Then I'll start doing official agent work, which will be completely different from what I'm doing now."

"You're a natural, don't sweat it."

"I won't."

"I'm eagerly awaiting to work with you again. It's gonna be great. I might even be able to get you some undercover work."

The waitress brought Olivia her bottled water and poured it into her glass as she tried to speak around her arm. "Well Dean, I'm not going to want to take a n undercover job for a while if ever."

"Right, I know, the baby, but come on Benson, where's your sense of adventure? The kid will be fine."

"Elliot and I made an agreement that we needed to be as stable as we can be for a while, so adventure was put on the back burner to say the least."

"Elliot and you. How long is that going to last?"

"What do you mean by that?"

Olivia was highly offended by his remarks she looked at her cell phone to check the time then back at him for his smug answer.

"Well, Liv-"

"Olivia."

"Olivia, you can't possibly expect that to work. You're so much better then the NYPD. Fed's is class baby. You can't be mixing that. It's a fine idea, but let's face it, it's like trying to mix oil with water."

Olivia glared at him and then something took her eye away from his face.

At a table in the corner she saw Dani and a tall man with dark hair and a strong complexion.

They were both in nice outfits and looking very serious and melancholy.

Olivia thought about her apology to Dani for false accusations and a black eye.

Dani didn't give into forgiveness right away, but after a few minutes of explanation both women decided that they were wrong and called a truce.

Olivia thought about walking over to them to say hello and then Dani looked up from her menu, saw Olivia, and ignored her stare.

Dean turned to see what she was starring at. "Olivia?"

She pulled her focus back to him. "I should go."

"Is something wrong?"

She thought about him for a moment. Wanting to tell him he was wrong about so many things in life, but she decided it was just going to be a waste of her energy.

He was the kind of guy who would remain a bachelor for all of time. It wasn't her obligation to change him.

She pushed her chair back and smiled to keep the peace ", no, nothing is wrong. It's just that I promised Elliot I would eat lunch with him today and if I leave now I won't be late. Thanks for the water."

Before leaving the restaurant she peered over at Dani's table. The chairs were empty. She looked around the room once and saw not a sign of their existence.

It was funny to her how quickly the number one restaurant in New York could all of the sudden have so many empty reviews.

** P.S. I made a youtube fan video awhile ago and I thought you all would enjoy it. If you get time check it out. It was my way of being completely addicted to the MAC I just bought. I Movie rocks my world! And also, I think that if there was ever an SVU musical that Nellie McKay would write the best music for it. She has some awesome detective like music and I used one of her songs in the vid. I know, I'm a HUGE dork. You all need to smack me. Tell me to get a life. Oh and you have to take the spaces out of the address because FanFic won't allow websites in this program. So there it is. **

**www. you tube /watch?vx3kbIlgLEbc**


	11. Stop

**AN: Number 11 is my favorite number!! Boo yeah- hope you like the chapter. It's pretty nerve wrecking. And just so you know--- I still hate Dani. **

**Stop **

The soft jabbing movements inside of Olivia's stomach woke her from a lazy peaceful sleep.

She envisioned her daughter's little fingers and toes wiggling on the inside of her tummy and the thought of it made her smile and flutter.

The sun peaked through their naked windows casting rays of light off of the bare walls and the blue sheets that Elliot quietly breathed under.

Olivia blinked her eyes and looked at the mess of boxes surrounding the brand new mattress that she and Elliot crashed on in the middle of their cluttered living room after moving into their first Manhattan condo on 4th and Vine Ave.

Things were starting to come together. They had finally taken the plunge and got a bigger place. After a week of packing and moving they'd decided to crash on the floor in a sweaty pool of exhaustion.

Olivia turned on her side and watched Elliot sleep.

A happy comforting feeling washed over her body as she lay next to him dreaming about the life they were going to make in their new home; the three of them laughing around the dinner table and playing dress up and Barbie dolls.

Elliot's strong hand moved up and down on his chest. She lightly touched it and craved for him to touch her back.

His pointer finger curled up and rubbed the bottom of her thumb. He smiled and she nuzzled her head under his chin.

"Morning, daydreamer," he softly said as he traced the side of her cheek.

She turned her lips to his fingers and nibbled on its' curves.

"How did you sleep," he asked.

"Like a baby."

Elliot lifted himself from the bed and gleamed into her eyes.

The sun's rays brightened their sultry brown pupils and Elliot felt like he could fall into them and never come back.

Their happy smiles turned into light kissing and then into passionate touching.

The nerves on Olivia's body tingled with every movement of Elliot's hand.

He grazed her thigh and ran his hand under her nightshirt and past her soft pink underwear.

Olivia arched her back and squirmed for more as he teased her insides with his thumb and forefinger. She pushed her hips into his hand and he stopped her as he teased the rest of her body with his lips and tongue.

Her perfectly round belly moved under Elliot's kissing and he gently pulled her bottoms from her hips as he continued to watch her face twitch and moan from his foreplay.

He loved watching her melt and twist from his touch. The way she breathed out of time and pulled at his hands to touch her throbbing wet vale of pleasure.

Her eyes pleaded for him to release her and he smiled enjoying the dominance he gained during moments like this.

She pulled his hand between her legs and he leaned down and kissed her fingers.

She started to touch herself and he followed her every move with his tongue.

Olivia gasped at the over-whelming feeling throughout her body.

His forceful kissing threw her into writhing fits.

She rocked underneath of him, building to full gratification.

Elliot couldn't contain himself any longer. He ripped off his jockey shorts and pushed-

_BUZZZ_

-into her.

_BUZZZZZZZZ_

Nothing was going to stop him from pumping-

BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

and forcing-

BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

"Ahhhhh," he sighed pulling out and running for the buzzer. "Maureen can you give us a minute?"

Maureen's voice came through the intercom. "I'm dropping things. I need you to- Travis, hold Ben-"

"I can't."

"Daddy, let us in."

Olivia threw Elliot his underwear and climbed back into hers.

Elliot pressed the button and rubbed his face repeatedly, trying to forget the erection between his legs. He turned and kissed Olivia as he grumbled past her, naked and angry towards the bathroom.

SCENE

The last day of moving and packing was long and hot. Elliot was not a fan of Travis but he was thankful for the extra hands.

All of Elliot's kids and Travis grabbed the last boxes from the U-Haul truck and headed for the building.

"Can I drive the truck back," Dickie asked before walking away.

"Ah- yeah that's fine, " Elliot said as he swept out the truck and pulled the door down.

The sunset was painting a pinkish fall night in the background and Elliot was so tired that he grabbed the beer from Olivia's hand and downed the whole thing in one gulp.

"Thanks baby."

"No problem. So this is it huh?"

"This is it. Thank god," he sighed grabbing Olivia with his lips and leaving a sweaty mark on her face. "I love you."

"Mmmm, and I love you. Especially in that wife beater."

"Oh, don't even tease me. I've been thinking about you all day."

"Really. Well, lucky for you I got the bedroom set up, so maybe you won't have to think about me too much longer."

Elliot pulled her into his steaming sweaty body and looked at her with his wild eyes. "I could just eat you up-"

"Ahem."

"Dickie." Elliot grabbed the keys from his pocket and threw them at Dickie. "We'll be back in ten, ok baby?"

Olivia took the beer bottle from Elliot's hand and nodded. "Dickie, make sure he doesn't drive."

"Got it, Liv. You making mashed potatoes for dinner?"

"If that's what you want," she grinned.

Dickie pulled the squeaky door open and hollered in her direction. "Yeah, baby, mash them tatters!"

"Drive safely," she waved as she turned for the door.

Elliot and Dickie sat in the U-Haul for a moment while Dickie revved the over-used engine and searched the radio for his favorite station.

"You know how to back this thing up?"

"Yeah, Dad, I'm all over it."

"Just check'n."

Dickie pulled the truck in reverse as Elliot looked at the cars parked behind them in the rearview mirror.

As soon as Dickie started to back the truck up head lights from a car five cars back flickered on and off.

Its engine was running and Elliot could vaguely see the driver inside of it.

He thought about the conversation he had with Allen several days back and immediately fell into a delusion that someone was watching them.

Dickie pulled out of the space and stopped at the red light.

After he turned Elliot kept watch in the rearview mirror as Ludacris' "Runaway" thumped in the background.

Sure enough the red Sedan made the turn and stayed at a distance too far for Elliot's comfort.

He turned the music down and touched Dickie's arm. "Pull over."

"What? Come on, I didn't even do anything yet."

"Dickie, pull over."

"Olivia told me you weren't allowed to drive."

"PULL OVER," Elliot yelled.

Dickie swerved the van to the side of the road and slammed on the breaks. "Why are you always like this?"

Elliot threw his phone at Dickie and opened the door. "Call Munch. Don't get out of the car."

"What? What the hell-"

Elliot was already walking down the sidewalk towards the vehicle before Dickie could comprehend what was happening.

Elliot took glances at the car and pretended he wasn't aware of them.

Another car pulled behind the vehicle and Elliot used the moment to walk in front of the Sedan.

The breaks screeched to a halt and Elliot saw her face.

"Dani, what the fuck are you doing," he yelled.

Dani tried to back up and stopped. She was surrounded by traffic, and the horns behind her started to beep impatiently.

"Pull over," Elliot yelled slamming his hand on the hood.

Dani licked the outside of her lips and opened the window. "Elliot, it's not what you think."

Elliot's brow was creased with anger and astonishment. "It's not? Then what is it? I will have you arrested."

"Just get out of the street and I'll explain."

"You better fucking explain."

Elliot moved to the sidewalk and before he could turn to watch her move the vehicle, the sounds of her tires squealing down the street filled the air.

Elliot ran for the U-Haul. "Dickie, start the truck."

Dickie stuck his head out of the window. "What?"

"Start the truck!"

Elliot opened the door and jumped in while yelling ", floor it!"

"I can't there's traffic."

"Hit them. Follow that car and floor it."

Elliot beeped the horn as Dickie pressed on the gas at full speed. They nicked the guy behind them and headed around the corner.

Dani was ahead of them and Elliot beeped the horn as Dickie weaved in and out of traffic.

"This is awesome!"

"Don't you EVER, do this again, you hear me? Just stay focused and follow that Sedan."

Dickie's eyes were wide with excitement and he nodded ", got it. Why were we being followed?"

"I don't know."

Dani took a turn down a one-way street and crashed right into a stopped bus. She pushed her door open and ran for an alley.

Elliot jumped from the moving U-Haul truck and raced after her. His legs pumped as hard as they could. He gained on her pretty quickly and grabbed her sweatshirt.

" Stop, " he yelled.

She wiped her hand around and smacked him in the face with her police stick.

He let go for a second and groaned as she jumped onto a fence and pulled her self to the top.

He grabbed at her pants and pulled her hair. "Dani, don't make me hurt you."

She fell from the fence and stood in a panic breathing heavily. "Elliot, don't. Wait. Why…I was following you because I as---Elliot, why did you have me attacked?"

"What?"

She swallowed and took in large breaths of air. "I was attacked two nights ago by a man. He told me to stay away from Olivia. I didn't do anything to Olivia!," She screamed. "Stay out of my life!"

Elliot was in shock. He stood in front of her confused and concerned. "Dani, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes, you do. He followed me home from work and said he'd slit my throat if I came near her again. When I told him you would never allow that, he told me you were in on it."

"He lied. Dani, I would never…what did he look like?"

"I don't know." Dani watched Elliot's body language and trusted his pained eyes. "So you didn't…"

"No."

"And Olivia wouldn't?"

"Dani, she is still heart broken about the fight you two had. There's no way that she would ever cause any person this kind of pain, especially you. What else did he say?"

Dani started to tear up and she slammed the brick wall with her hand. "Ah, I can't believe this happened. I can't believe."

"Hey, hey, calm down. It's ok. Just tell me what happened."

Dani looked at him with tears falling from her eyes. "He was in my car. I don't know how he got in there. He held a knife to my throat and said that he saw me following Olivia. Elliot, I swear to you I never followed her. I swear to you this was the first time I ever did this to either of you and I only did it because I thought he would show up and I could catch him."

Elliot touched her arm gently ", did he hurt you?"

Dani nodded and turned her face away from his. She wasn't cut or bruised so he assumed that she had been violated in a much worse way. The thought of anyone he knew being harmed in that kind of manner made him ill. He hugged her while she sobbed.

"Elliot, you need to be careful. The whole time he….he said Olivia's name over and over again. He was obsessed with her. When he said that you were in on it I didn't believe him. He just got angry and told me that you weren't the man everybody thought you were. He said that after he finished helping you he was going to take Olivia away. When he was finished he chloroformed me. I woke up in my car the next morning. I'm so sorry I didn't mean to pry into your life. I just didn't know what to believe. You two looked so normal and happy as I watched you and I didn't want to believe it. And then you got so angry when you saw me that I panicked."

"It's ok. Just, next time can you come talk to me? Did you report any of this?"

"No, I was too ashamed. I wanted to find him on my own."

"Dani, you can't do that. You need to report this."

Dickie beeped the horn from the front of the alley and Elliot turned. "Come on, we're taking you home."

SCENE

Olivia, Elizabeth, Travis, Maureen, Kathleen, and Baby Benson talked around the kitchen passing dinner plates and cooking a big meal for the family to enjoy. Olivia clicked the oven buzzer off and looked at her watch.

"Where are they," she said out loud.

Kathleen licked barbeque sauce from her finger. "Who knows, Dickie probably hit something, as usual, and dad's probably ripping him a new one."

"Oh Kathleen, he isn't that bad, " Maureen said as she fed Benson a spoonful of mashed carrots.

Travis wiped Benson's messy face and the baby fussed and garbled from the amount of attention he'd been receiving all day.

Olivia picked up her cell phone to call Elliot and the buzzer rang. "Oh, there they are."

She pressed the door button and unlatched the front door.

Everybody sat down at the table and began to fill up their plates with barbeque chicken, mashed potatoes, and corn on the cob.

"This food smells amazing Olivia. You are the best," Elizabeth said as she grabbed a piece of corn. "Oh, Liv, did Dad tell you, I made the school play."

"No, he didn't. Elizabeth that's great! What part did you get," Olivia beamed.

"We're doing 'Attend the Tale of Sweeney Todd', which is like only the best Sondheim musical ever written, like EVER! And I get to play Mrs. Lovett's. At first I was sad because Mrs. Lovett's is old, and I wanted to play Johanna who is the beautiful daughter, but…."

Elizabeth stopped in mid sentence and dropped her fork. She starred blankly at the front door and everyone turned to see what she was so stricken about.

Olivia turned to see a tall masked man holding a gun towards the family.

"Nobody move," said the male figure.

Olivia's heart stopped. Her mind raced trying to remember where Elliot had put his gun. She thought about using the knife on the table, but the guy aimed the gun at her head.

"Olivia, get up."

She slowly stood and blinked trying to recognize the eyes behind the mask. "Do I know you?"

He ignored her question and wrapped his arm around her neck.

He pointed the gun at Olivia's stomach and pulled her towards the door. Panic and fear took over.

Olivia watched Elliot's kids stand in shock. Images of her life flashed by.

The baby was so close to being born. It's tiny heartbeats thumped in Olivia's mind.

The man walked backwards with Olivia in his arms "Anybody makes one move. I mean, it. If I see one face in that window the baby is dead. You got it?"

The five of them sat in silence. "ANSWER ME," yelled the man.

They all nodded. Maureen mumbled a yes and clung to the knife next to her plate.

Before any of them could blink an eye Olivia was gone.

The man pulled her down the steps and into the street where he pushed her into the passenger seat of a car and tied her arms together.

"Don't be scared. Just enjoy the ride," whispered the man's voice.

There was something about the way he smelled. She searched the black mask to figure it out, but it was too dark.

Everything from his hands to his neck to his face was covered in black. He got into the driver's seat and pulled the car into drive.

Olivia looked over her shoulder and watched the window. She only hoped that one of them saw the car and called Elliot.

Once they got past the stoplight her world started to disappear and she scrambled her mind for a way out. Horrific images flashed through her mind and the car lights int eh street blurred into a mesh of color. She closed her eyes and just wanted it all to...

**AN: AHHHHHH cliff hanger. R&R and let me know your thoughts. **


	12. Reconciliation

**AN: Wow- this chapter really depressed me. And that's all I'm going to say. Somebody tell me a joke. Also, thanks for the feedback. You guys are great. I'm glad you're enjoying it and it makes me want to write more. I can't seem to keep up with the ideas pouring through my mind. Thanks and have a nice Read.  
**

**Reconciliation**

The hum of the truck engine vibrated the old leather seats of the U-Haul cab. Dani sat in between Dickie and Elliot. Nobody said a word except to point out directions.

"Make a right at the next light," Dani blankly said.

Elliot's phone made a loud ring on his belt. He leaned over pushing Dani in the process.

"Maur, eat without us. We're taking a detour."

"Dad the car, a man just. He had a gun and he took her in a car. 87hpv4 was the license plate."

"What? Maur, slow down. What's going on?"

Elliot plugged his open ear and his scrunched face turned pale.

Dickie and Dani looked nervously at his reactions. "Ok, lock the door. Call 911. We'll be there. Dickie, go back to the condo."

Dickie had become a pro at swinging the 20-foot truck around. Without question he pulled on his game face and made a U-turn.

Elliot held onto the front of the dashboard and called the precinct.

SCENE

The dark figure floored the car at a top speed down 6th Ave.

Olivia pushed herself as far back into the seat as she could. She wanted desperately to put her seat belt on.

The motion of the car jostled her and the baby around.

A weird sensation cramped up inside of her.

She held back the pain and clenched her face hoping that he would slow down.

He slammed on the breaks and Olivia fell forward.

She pressed her hands against the dashboard. A sharp pain jabbed her insides and she let out a gasp.

"What's wrong with you," said the man as he pushed her back.

She swallowed the pain. "Can I put the seatbelt on?"

The man grabbed the gun that he placed between the door and the seat. " Quickly and don't even attempt to be heroic."

Olivia turned to pull the seat belt from behind her head when a siren sounded next to them.

The man put down the gun and hit the gas. Olivia jolted back in the seat. "You're not gonna get away. They've probably already got the block cornered."

"Olivia, if you knew what was good for you, you wouldn't be in this position. I suggest you save the cop tactics for another day."

His voice was suddenly clear. The way his mouth formed the "O" in Olivia caught her off guard. There was only one man who said her name like that. She looked at the shape of his head and froze, contemplating how he could turn so quickly and drastically into the monster before her.

She lifted her hands towards his mask and before she could take another frame of action, his foot jammed the break peddle down causing the car to spin recklessly in another direction.

Olivia hit the door and the side window hard. She tried her best to keep the baby protected, but the sharp pains in her stomach started again.

She took in deep breaths of air to calm everything in her body down.

The man looked over at her as he spun the wheel and headed down a side street. "What's wrong with you?"

Through the slow intake of air she painfully looked at him. "Dean, why are you doing this?"

Dean took the mask off. "Because you're better than you think you are. I'm saving you from your mistakes."

"Ohhhh," Olivia groaned.

"What's happening?"

The sirens could be heard somewhere close by and he revved the engine again. His focus pulled back and forth between the road and Olivia hovering in pain.

"Ahh," she cried as she breathed and rocked forward trying to curl up in a ball. The cramping was getting stronger. "I need you to stop this right now. Dean, you can't fix my mistakes, because I haven't made any. Untie my hands now!"

She started to hit him with her fists and he grabbed her hands hard with one hand.

"Olivia, you have to trust me. You can't ruin your life to become the wife of an under paid, uneducated divorcee, who was brought up to become a blue collar worker for the rest of his miserable life.

The labor pains were coming on faster and stronger. Her reactions were half fits of pain and half disgusted spouts of anger. "OH, god, Dean you are such a blind bigoted fascists piece of slime, OHHHHHH!!!"

Olivia started to yell through her clenched teeth. "I wouldn't trust you if it was the last thing left for me to do! Mmhuh!" Olivia doubled over and took in quick breaths of air while holding onto the dashboard with her out-stretched hands. Her head rooled back adn forth on the back of the seat and she breathed in and out rapidly. "Trust you! You put a gun to my head. Why would I EVER trust you! Ohhhhh. I can't move. Oh god, please dear god, please get me out of this."

Olivia started to pray over and over again. Her forehead started to sweat and she closed her eyes.

Dean was headed for the freeway. Olivia watched the exit coming closer and they pulled up the ramp only to be stopped by a barricade of police cars.

Olivia's shoulder hit the front of the car and then slammed back into the seats as Dean stopped hard and backed up.

A warm feeling slowly made it's way down Olivia's thighs and all over the seat.

She looked at the crotch of her blue jeans and let out a panicked cry. "Oh, no, please, Dean, you have to give this up. Please. If you love me so much, you'll let me go."

Dean stopped the car and pulled out the gun. "Olivia, you're all I have. If a baby is what you want I can give it to you, but this is not what you deserve."

He held the gun to Olivia's stomach and she shrieked with fear. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

"Olivia, I know you don't understand right now, but you will."

Dickie pulled the U-Haul to a stop leaving a long line of burned rubber behind him. Dani handed Elliot her gun. "Here, take this."

Elliot looked at the gun and then at her. "This is illegal."

"Do you want to save Olivia, or do you want to play by the rules? Trust me, I played by the rules and I lost. Just take it."

Elliot never really understood the irrational grief that Dani held for her late husband until now.

Looking into her eyes, he could see the emptiness that she held onto as she hunted the world trying to find a replacement.

He could see her thoughts like an open book as she endlessly worked and searched for justice.

She was looking for the one thing that she'd lost all those years ago.

Now, as he sat with the gun in his hand and Olivia so close to him in danger, he couldn't say that he would be any different than Dani in her situation.

Gently he nodded as he took the gun and jumped out of the truck.

He wasn't about to spend the rest of his life searching for Olivia's ghost.

Elliot walked towards the car without a stitch of bulletproof gear on and the gun raised in the air. The cops surrounded them and Cragen shouted on the bullhorn. "Elliot, fall back. We've got it under control."

Elliot didn't listen, he could see Dean's face looking back at him and he fired the gun into the sky sending a message for Dean to back off.

Dean opened the door and shouted as he held the gun to Olivia's stomach. "Take one more step and I shoot them both."

Olivia's heart had never raced so quickly in all her life. As Dean shouted at Elliot she took that moment to grab Dean's arm and smash it into the radio. He dropped the gun and it fired through the roof.

Olivia startled herself from the blast. She pushed the gun under the seat with her foot as Dean grabbed her by the hands and pushed her into the door. "Why are you doing this? Huh? Why? You know I'm better for you. He's brainwashed you Olivia. Brainwashed you!"

Elliot froze when the shot fired. He held his gun towards Dean's head as he watched both of their silhouettes violently move about. He didn't know what to do next. It was too dark to see what was happening or where the gun was.

Cragen shouted through the bullhorn again. "Dean Porter, step out of the car."

Dean slapped Olivia in the face and they both sat quietly while he thought of their next move.

Movement from the right side of the car caught Elliot's attention. Dani was crotched next to the vehicle. She nodded for him to take Dean's side. Fin came up beside Elliot and they moved in on the car.

"Dean," Elliot yelled. "You're surrounded. What do we have to do to negotiate here?"

Dean's door was still open. He sat in the front seat and turned his head to reply. "Don't get any closer. I have a gun and I will use it." Quickly he pushed Olivia around as he searched the under side of the seat for his gun.

Olivia held her face and started to sweat and rock from the pain. A finger came up from the outside of the car and wiggled next to the lock on the door.

She peaked out and saw Dani with her back against the car and a small pistol in her hand.

Dean grabbed the gun and sat up. He turned his face towards the ever-approaching cops and yelled ", call off the barricade's and I won't shoot Olivia."

Olivia flipped up the lock on the door as he yelled.

"That's not a negotiation, Porter, " Elliot called back. His gun was aimed and ready to fire at the slightest mistake on Porter's behalf.

"Let Olivia go and I will call off the barricades."

"And get rid of my hostage? Do you think I'm a rookie at this, Stabler?"

Fin whispered to Elliot ", Snipers got a clear shot. They'll take it when you're ready."

"And Olivia's not in any sort of sight line for that right?"

Dean could see the snipers lining up. He slouched down in the seat. His gun was no longer pointed at Olivia. He had his head turned towards the door as he yelled to Elliot. "Open the barricades, Stabler."

While he wasn't looking Olivia held her face against the window and gave Dani the ok.

Dani pulled open the door and held the gun at Dean's face. "Don't move jack ass."

Dean froze. He held his gun at Dani and they stood aiming the barrels at each other. "Drop your gun, Porter," Dani hissed with her sly Norwegian accent.

Dean placed the gun on the seat next to him and Olivia slowly got out of the car.

Dani held her shot at his head as Olivia made her way past the backseat doors.

Dani noticed the blood and the liquid on the seat and when Olivia doubled over she flinched. "Olivia--"

BANG

Dean grabbed his gun and shot it at Dani's chest.

Olivia heard the shot and fell to the ground with her hands on her head. The sniper near the barricade took his shot and Dean was immediately dead.

Everything happened so quickly. Dani slumped to the ground.

Blood poured from her chest and she coughed blood from her mouth.

Olivia crawled over to her and pressed her tied up hands over the wound. "Dani, dear god, hold on. Don't leave me."

Elliot ran to them and lifted Dani's head to the side so that she wouldn't chock on the blood. "What the hell happened," Elliot cried with panic and worry on his face. "Dani, be strong. Just hold on, you're gonna beat this."

Dani blinked her eyes and looked up at the two of them. Softly she whispered ", I'm ok. It doesn't hurt. You're both angels. I'm so glad that you're…both…happy. Don't ever forget that…happiness is more important than your job. It's more import-…tant…than-"

Olivia leaned on the chest wound and looked into Dani's eyes with a strong face and tears streaming down her cheeks. "Dani, stay with us. Open your eyes. Dani, look at me."

Dani coughed and blinked. She smiled at Olivia. "It's ok. Let me go."

"Dani, you're not leaving us yet," Elliot yelled. He looked up and saw the paramedics running towards them. "The meds are here. Don't stop now, you hear me?"

Elliot shook her head and she opened her eyes. The vague blue shades grabbed his soul and said their final good-byes. "It's…time…I've waited…to be with him. Let me… Good-bye Elliot... Olivia... Stabler."

"Dani," Olivia cried as she held the wound tightly. Olivia's body shook as Dani closed her eyes and took one final breath. Olivia pumped her chest and shook her body. "Dani!"

Elliot stood up and turned away from them. He held his hand over his eyes and let the tears fall from his face.

Olivia was on the ground crying and shaking. Dani's blood was all over her.

She pushed herself away from Dani's lifeless vessel and uncontrollably wept.

The stress on her mind pushed down onto the baby and an excruciating pain ran through her body. "Ahhhhohhh," she cried holding onto her stomach and leaning onto the car.

Fin grabbed Olivia's arms. "Liv, what's wrong?"

He looked down and saw that her water had broke. Quickly he untied the wire that was wrapped around her hands. "Elliot, she's contracting."

Elliot looked over at Olivia and noticed her wet clothing for the first time. His face was red and stained with dirt and tears as he ran by her side. He and Fin lifted Olivia from the ground and headed for the nearest car.

The earth slowly turned as the chaotic mess ended around them.

Elliot could almost feel the ground tilting. The sounds and the people pushed around him as he looked into Olivia's eyes and thanked the God's up above that she was in his arms.

**AN: So even though I am still not a big fan of Dani on the show, I do think that if the actress were on another show in a role that I liked, I would totally like her. I also, think in the grand skeem of things- if Olivia Benson never existed I could grow to like Dani Beck- just in a different way. She was strong and pretty and she even has a cool accent. You can't go wrong with an accent. So it was my goal to give her a bit of a redeeming quality. I hope that I did a good job. The topic is open for discussion. Let me know what you think.**


	13. The Umbrella

**AN: Ok, for those of you who don't know me or didn't know- I love song fics. So this chappy is musical! Um. I still can't decide if the song I chose was right or not, but I'm having a small obsession for Rhianna music recently, so I had this itchy urge to use the "Umbrella" song. It definitely fit my original idea, sooo I hope you all enjoy.  
**

**The Umbrella **

"Take my hand."

Olivia was dripping with sweat. She was barely conscious.

She looked up at Elliot from the hospital bed with frightened eyes.

He smiled at her with the confidence she needed to give the last few final pushes.

She grabbed Elliot's hand. The weight of the dark night was starting to break. Rays of sunlight seeped through the window as she took one big final gasp and pushed with every once of energy left in her body.

**_When the sun shines _**

**_We'll shine together_**

It was the moment she'd waited for.

Time stood still as she numbly forced her little girl into the world.

The doctor urged her to give one more push and Olivia looked at Elliot, who squeezed her hand and said, almost as if he were stuck in slow motion

**_", I told you I'll be here forever."_**

Olivia's head slumped over, allowing him to take control for a second while she vaguely blacked out. Elliot's face came in and out of focus.

**_I'll always be your friend _**

**_Took an oath _**

**_I'mma stick it out 'till the end_**

She watched his face lift as he looked at the doctor.

The sounds in the room started to morph into waves of inaudible noise as Olivia blinked to stay awake.

**_Now that it's raining more than ever _**

**_Know that we still have each other_**

She wasn't sure if it was the drugs or the lack of energy that caused the surreal flashes, but through all the haze she heard the sound that made her pain all the more worth it.

The wale that only Olivia Benson's daughter could make.

"Wahhh!"

She lifted her head and saw her tiny baby wiggle and squirm her way from the doctor's hands and into the nurse's care.

Olivia closed her eyes and suddenly felt Elliot drop her hand.

"Where are you taking her," she heard him ask.

When she looked up his back was to her. Her arm barely moved to reach for him.

**_It's raining (raining) _**

**_Ooo baby it's raining _**

**_baby come into me _**

**_Come into me_**

Somebody touched Olivia's head and she closed her eyes. The light turned to black.

"We're losing her," cried a nurse.

Flash In and Out. Black and white. Thunder. Lightening.

Olivia gasped and opened her eyes. There beside her sat Elliot.

"Liv."

"Where is she," Olivia asked as she felt her stomach and looked around the empty hospital room.

**_You can run into my Arms_**

Elliot grabbed her hand and pulled back her stray hair.

**_"It's okay don't be alarmed"_**

**_(Come into Me) _**

**_(There's no distance in between our love)_**

"She's ok?"

Elliot smiled. "She's perfect."

Flash In and Out

**_Ooo baby it's raining _**

**_baby come into me_**

Elliot pushed Olivia down the hall in a wheel chair, to where the preemie babies slept and cooed in their plastic incubators.

Elliot's family sat around the crib.

Loneliness was something their new sister would never be.

Everyone smiled and greeted the groggy, Mama Benson.

Maureen had been crying for twelve hours straight.

She reached over and grabbed Olivia by the neck. "I have never been so relieved to see your smiling face."

"I love you too, Maureen."

Maureen let go and sighed ", I just can't tell you. I don't know how you do it. Crazy people, and babies, and kidnappings. I almost lost it. And then the labor complications. I'm a mess."

"Maureen, shut up," Dickie said as he pulled her away, opening a space for Olivia's wheel chair to move forward.

The name Benson/Stabler ran across the front of the small crib and Olivia laid her eyes on the sleeping baby for the first time.

She held her hand to her mouth and tears fell from her eyes.

**_When the sun shines _**

**_We'll shine Together_**

"Oh pretty girl," Olivia gushed. She sat up and placed her hand in the open hole to hold her daughter's itsy baby fingers.

Everyone in the room smiled and sniffed back tearful joy, except for Dickie, who was assigned to take pictures and pictures he took.

Endless flashes and clicks sounded next to the crib as Dickie pushed the camera button at noisome.

**_Baby come into me_**

**_Come into me_**

The room stood in silence for Olivia's reactions.

Her feeble eyes watched the baby breath and move her lips.

"You _are_ perfect," she sobbed.

Elliot wiped a small tear from his own eye.

He held one of Olivia's hands and knelt beside her.

Ms. Benson wasn't the kind of woman to make a fuss over many things, but children were her weakness.

Seeing her brighten up and melt made Elliot love her even more.

Their little girl seemed to smile at the touch of Olivia's presence. "Mommy's right here sweetheart.

**_I'll be here forever."_**

"Olivia Benson? Elliot Stabler?"

**_Took an oath _**

**_gonna stick it out 'till the end_**

The nurse assigned to their daughter grinned and stood next to them.

"Glad to see you're awake and smiling Olivia."

"Thank you, " Olivia replied as she swooned over her daughter.

"Would you like to hold her?"

Dickie stopped clicking the digital camera and sarcastically reacted. "Hold her? Naw, why would she want to do a thing like that?"

The nurse chuckled and opened the plastic door. "I often wonder why I ask. Habit, I suppose."

Elliot stood up and grabbed the camera from Dickie. "Alright you guys. Why don't you all go take a walk and give Liv a minute with the baby."

They all filed out and the nurse handed Olivia the tiny bundle of new life.

She was so little that Olivia felt like she would smother her in her arms.

The nurse pulled the curtain around the three of them. "Are you going to breast feed?"

Olivia paused in thought.

She remembered a time when she thought this moment would never happen to her. Slowly picking her head up, she confidently nodded. "Yes."

"Great," smiled the nurse. "Let me help you."

Elliot watched the two women go over the precious bond like he'd never seen it done before.

He was still in shock that they had even reached this point of their lives.

He looked down at his wristwatch. Specks of blood still remained on its' face.

The pattern reminded him that just hours ago he was fighting for Olivia's life and almost lost it. They had beaten the storm.

**_Now that it's raining more than ever _**

**_Know that we still have each other_**

**_You can stand under my Ummm-_**

"Elliot, she's so beautiful," Olivia said beaming for him to come stand next her.

He walked to her and nuzzled his head on her shoulder as he looked down at the rosy cheeks suckling from her motherly form.

"I feel like I'm dreaming," she whispered.

"I think I had this dream once," Elliot whispered back.

"How does it end," Olivia replied.

"I can't tell you. I never woke up."

**_You have my heart_**

**_and we'll never be worlds apart _**

**_Baby cause in the Dark_**

**_that's when you need me there _**

**_With you I'll always share _**

**_Because_**

Elliot tickled his daughter's cheek and she rolled her head and smiled "She has your nose," he softly said.

"How do you figure," Olivia replied in the same gentle hush.

"Because it scrunches when she smiles."

Olivia lightly bumped his head with hers and broke into a full nose-scrunched smile.

**_You can stand under my Umbr_**

The nurse came back into the curtains with a clipboard. "Not that there's any rush, but have you two decided on a name?"

Olivia looked at Elliot and they both shrugged hopelessly.

"It was the one thing that we didn't plan," Elliot answered.

"Hey, take your time. Most couples don't know what they want to name the baby until after the first couple of days."

She then opened the curtains on the window and sunlight poured into the room. "It's quiet in here. I'll turn on the TV."

"No, that's not necessa-," Elliot said, but not fast enough.

The nurse flicked on the switched just in time to see the morning news.

"Ex- NYPD Detective, Dani Beck was shot last night when a crazed Federal Agent abducted one of his colleagues, Federal Agent Olivia Benson. We're here with a close friend-"

"You know, can we turn that off," Elliot said as he reached for the remote in the nurse's hand.

"I'm sorry. I had no idea."

"It's ok, " Elliot grinned.

On the television an anchorwoman stood next to a tall man with dark hair.

"Wait," Olivia cried. "That was the man with her at the restaurant."

Elliot stopped. "What?"

"Daniella was a hard worker. I loved her very much and I will miss her everyday."

"That was her partner from the other unit she transferred to," Elliot stated.

Olivia starred at the TV. "Elliot, that's it."

"What's it?"

She looked down at her daughter. "Ella."

**_Ella ella ella eh eh eh _**

**_Under my umbrella _**

**_Ella ella ella eh eh eh_**

"Are you sure," he asked.

He turned and knelt in front of Olivia's wheelchair. The nurse stood with the television remote in her hand.

She couldn't decide if she should turn the television off or leave the two of them alone and let them deal with it on their own.

She decided to stand next to them awkwardly.

Olivia looked up at Elliot and as their eyes met they knew it was the right fit.

"What about your mother's name?"

Olivia tilted her head. "Middle name?"

Without a word they both agreed. Elliot turned to the nurse and took the clipboard from her hands.

He took the pen from the top of the clip and scribbled onto the official paperwork.

"Ella Serena Stabler…"

He stopped and looked up from his handwriting.

" Benson?"

Olivia smirked at him.

"Stabler."

With that he tapped the pen on the brown clipboard in conclusion and gave Olivia that smartass grin of his. "How domestic of you Olivia Benson."

Olivia opened her mouth in jestful shock. "How presumptuous of you Elliot Stabler!"

Elliot handed the clipboard to the nurse without taking his wild excited eyes from Olivia's.

He leaned over his witty wistful wife (or soon to be) and grabbed her lips with his.

He didn't care that the nurse was fidgeting in the corner embarrassed by their public display of affection.

He couldn't be more content knowing that even

**_When it rained more than ever_**

**_They would still have each other _**

**_She could stand under his Umbrella _**

**_Ella ella ella eh eh eh_**

**_Under his umbrella _**

**_ella ella ella eh eh eh_**

**AN: sniff, sniff, sniff, do you all smell that??? sniff sniff sniff - smells like Christmas gone bad. OH wait- that's not Christmas --that's me ----Sapp'n out on all of you! _  
_AHHH I love sappy chapters sometimes and that just felt so sappilicious! I need some rage. You all should check out the NEW Will Ferral/ Pearl --it's on www. funny or die .com (Sans the spaces) IT'S HILARIOUS!! Look out Mariska Hargitay, Pearl is large and in charge. She is sweep'n the detective nation people! Love it!! After you're done reviewing----Check it out "Good cop, baby cop". And if you haven't seen "Landlord" you should also watch that out too. That's grade A sketch babies! R&R-- or drop me a line about the Pearl. I love Pearl. That's it- Pearl is gonna make an appearance in this story. I don't know how or when or why- but she just has to!!! Shalom!  
**


	14. Ol' Blue Eyes

**AN: Alright back to the important things. You know, cause having a baby wasn't important. KIDDING! I love your reviews. You guys rock my socks.   
**

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**Ol' Blue Eyes **

"Do you ever get scared," Kathleen asked as she stood next to Olivia in the pink and purple nursery.

After a week of care, Olivia and Ella were released from the hospital. The whole family introduced Ella to her new home and her new bedroom. Elliot made sure to unpack everything that he could, so that the house was in place for their first day back.

Olivia held Ella's leg up as she changed her diaper, and she paused after Kathleen's question. "Scared how?"

Kathleen twiddled with a fuzzy bear lying next to Ella's head. "You know, like during a case, or like last week when…the…with the gun."

"Sure I do." Olivia pulled the diaper tabs and looked into Kathleen's eyes. "Do you need to talk about last week?"

Kathleen shrugged. "I don't know, I just wondered how you handled it. You seem so un-phased. I don't think I would …I mean, I wasn't even in that car, and I…well I'm finding myself petrified to leave the house alone. I went to a party last night and on the way home I almost had a mental break down. If anyone saw me they probably thought I was crazy. I was looking behind me every five seconds and jumping at every movement. It was ridiculous. I felt like a little girl stuck in the big black basement only this time the monsters were real."

"Oh sweetheart that's normal." Olivia touched her hand and rubbed her back while Ella kicked and grunted next to them. "I may seem un-phased, but trust me I have my fair share of nightmares. I guess you could say that I've built a tolerance for certain things. I deal with that kind of fear on a daily basis, so it's different for me. You can't beat yourself up. It's a normal reaction. You have to learn how to calm yourself. Find your strong side. If you can control yourself, you can control the situation."

Olivia lifted the baby and pulled Kathleen on the floor where Ella's blanket lay neatly in a square. "I'm gonna tell you something, but you have to promise never to tell your father."

Kathleen smiled and lifted an eyebrow. "Ok."

"He would make fun of me forever and I just can't give him that kind of satisfaction."

"Ok, I won't tell anyone," Kathleen grinned.

"When I was a little girl, one of my favorite movies was this Frank Sinatra flick called 'The Detective'. It had Mia Farrow, Lee Rick, Ralph Meeker, so hot, and then there was Jacqueline Bisset. It was a classic. I wanted to be Jacqueline Bisset so badly. I would make my friends call me Olivia Bisset, and I cut my hair to look like her in high school. She was this strong woman with a gun. I just loved it. My point to this is, when I'm in scary situations, well not so much any more, but when I first started my job, I would think about Jacqueline Bisset in that movie. I would secretly repeat to myself over and over again. What would Jacqueline Bisset do? What would Jacqueline Bisset do? What would Jacqueline Bisset do? She wouldn't cry. She would hold her car keys between her knuckles and punch that guy right in the gut." Olivia made a motion with her fist and really got into the idea of being an unafraid woman warrior.

Kathleen laughed and rolled over on her side. "You're right, I should keep that a secret."

"You laugh, but it works. It's all mental," Olivia smiled. "What are you doing Tuesday night?"

"Ah…nothing."

"You should come with me to my women's defense class."

"Really?"

"It's the last class for this group, but you can meet some really lovely women and learn a few moves. You'll feel better."

"Yeah, I think I could do that. Thanks, Liv. I feel a little better already."

There was a light tap on the door and Elliot poked his head in. "Hey, Don is here. Are you up for some company?"

"Certainly," Olivia smiled.

The trio of fearless ladies made their way to the kitchen where Don Cragen sat drinking a glass of water with Maureen and baby Benson.

"Hey, look at you two," Don smiled. "You never looked happier, Benson, or should I start saying Stabler. I got your invitation in the mail yesterday."

Olivia hugged Don with one arm and laughed. "Cap, you can call me whatever you want."

Don wiggled Ella's hand and made baby noises in her face. "Look at you. You are so cute, aren't you? And you know it already, don't you? Don't you, you little peapod you?"

Elliot sat in a chair like the man of the house. He had a toothpick in the corner of his mouth and his hands behind his head. "Alright Cap, simmer down. We don't want her to get an ego on top of the stubborn genes."

Don laughed at Elliot ", Yeah, we wouldn't want her to end up like you."

"Ohh, burned," Maureen replied from her corner of the kitchen.

Olivia handed Ella to Don and leaned on the counter with delight. Don was the closest thing to a grandfather Ella had, and so far he was filling the shoes nicely. He bounced her around and laughed like a little old man.

"So how are yeah, Don," Olivia asked.

"I'm hanging in there. I've had better weeks."

"What's wrong now," Elliot said in a harsh tone.

Don slowly stopped bouncing and looked around at the kids and the babies. "Ah, it's nothing. We'll talk later."

"No, we'll talk about it now. Kathleen, Maur."

They already started to file out before he could finish.

Don handed Olivia the baby. He sat down at the table and put on a serious face. "Lake gave me his two week notice."

"What?"

"Elliot, I know. It wasn't you. He's transferring to Miami. He's got family down there."

Olivia stood in the background slowly rocking Ella and pretending to stay out of it.

Elliot pulled the toothpick out of his mouth and dumped it in the trashcan. "So now what?"

"Well, I was talking to Casey about it." Don looked away from Elliot and tried to stay as authoritative as possible. "She said that the only thing illegal about our old situation is if you sign that marriage certificate."

Olivia looked up from her daughter's face and froze in Don's direction.

Elliot glanced at Olivia and then back to Cragen. "What are you gett'n at?"

"It's only if you think you can handle it, and if you want to choose to live a certain way, of course. But look at Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell. They've been unofficially married for years and they seem great."

Olivia sat in the chair next to him. Her eyes burned Don's skull.

Don paused waiting for their reactions. They were speechless, so he kept on talking. "Look, I never would have asked, and normally I would say this is a bad idea, but let's face it, there are exceptions to every rule, and you two have been married for years. Am I right?"

Olivia nodded and vaguely replied a ", yes."

"Liv, if you want the job. It's yours."

"Yes, yes. I want the job. Elliot, do I want the job?

"I suppose you do." Elliot wasn't as ready to hop on board as quickly as Olivia. He wasn't so sure that avoiding a legal document would be the easy answer to their detective dreams, but he saw the excitement in her eyes and didn't have the heart to say no.

Don noticed it and called him out. "What's wrong Elliot?"

" I just…um…you know, what happens when I want to call her my wife?"

Don crossed his arms and shrugged. "Don't bring it up at work and if it slides out don't make a thing of it. If the state doesn't recognize you two as one person, then you can still go to court and remain witness' for each other."

Elliot turned to Olivia and touched her arm. "Olivia, what's gonna happen when we have our first big fight and then have to go to work? Are you going to begrudge me all day and then bring it home?"

Olivia sat up straight in defense. "It wouldn't be the first time we worked under resentful layers, and why are you pointing the finger at me? You've had plenty of stubborn silences. "

"That's my point, Olivia. It's going to be really hard keeping home at home and work at work. Are you ready for that? Because I don't think you know how hard that can be."

"Why are you so against this all of the sudden? I thought you wanted this?"

Elliot ran a hand over his forehead. "I do. I just want you to be aware of the dangers."

"Elliot, we'd be forced to work it out. That's what we do. We work it out. It's the best part of our relationship."

Don put his hand in the middle of them. "If I didn't think you two could handle it I never would have came to you. You're right Elliot, it's going to be tricky. Liv, I want you to really think about this. I mean, let's face it, the first lawyer that finds out you have a baby together is going to use that against you in court. You'll have to always be prepared to defend your actions. You'll have to keep your personal life private. I may even start splitting you up on the difficult casework. That way if you have to testify Fin or Munch will be there to back you up. It's not a simple answer, but I can't tell you how much this unit needs the both of you. The people I've interviewed thus far couldn't handle the stress. They're crazier than the perps."

"And frankly I'm sick of getting used to flighty partners," Elliot grunted.

They all sat in silence.

Don pushed his glass on the table and then stood up. "I'll give you a few days to think on it. No need to answer me right away."

Don headed for the door and Elliot lifted his eyes from the table and watched Olivia's thoughts. He wanted her back. He wanted her to be happy. He turned is chair around to stop Cragen. "Cap. She'll do it."

"Are you sure," Cragen responded.

"Elliot, we can think on it. There's no need to be irrational."

Olivia held Elliot's ol' blue eyes with her Jacqueline Bisset browns and he couldn't resist feeling the strength to try it. The idea was insane. It was dangerous and it was unheard of. For the first time in his life he put two feet on the ground and made their decision.

"Liv, I know you. You're sure. Cap, she's sure. I'm sure. I want to do it. I want you to do it. We'll do it."

Don laughed and let out a sigh. "I knew you would. Detectives, it's good to have you back!"

**AN: Alright drop me thoughts. I know I'm pushing the limit with this idea- but I don't care. I hate that our EO is subjected to one life or the other. Screw reality---this is fanfic - I'm giving them their dream. **


	15. All or Nothing

**AN: I love your reviews. You all are so much fun!! Yowzaa** **and I really have nothing to write in the AN today- but I felt the need to send warm Fanfic hugs. Hugs!  
**

**All or Nothing **

"Hold the door please," Olivia yelled out as she ran for the precinct's elevator.

A man with a black leather coat, unmanaged hair, and three cameras wrapped around his neck, held the door open as Olivia piled into the small compartment with her hands full and a baby Ella strapped around the front part of her body.

"Let me help you."

The man grabbed one of Olivia's many bags and peeked at the small baby hanging from Olivia's chest. She blinked and made noises while sucking on one of her fists.

"Cute baby," said the man as he smiled.

"Thank you. Can you press the fourth floor button please?"

"Already done," said the man as he smiled at Ella.

Ella was wide-awake and stoically starring at all of the color passing by her big blue eyes. She'd just started to hold her head up on her own, and Olivia loved to watch her capture the world with excited curiosity. With her father's eyes and her mother's pouty lips she would make the most adorable reactions. They would usually start out with a hint of mischievous intelligence and end with a wide toothless open-mouthed smile followed up by squeals, drool, and leg kicking. Her face was much like a porcelain doll's; full cheeks, long black lashes framing her bright round eyes, a button nose, and wisps of thick light brown hair neatly falling into place on her head. The Brangelina baby had nothing on Ella. Everybody complimented her beauty

"What's your baby's name," asked the man.

"Ella," Olivia answered as she tickled the bottom of Ella's swinging feet.

"Would you mind if I took a picture?"

"Um, well, yes. Who do you work for?"

The man was so involved in making faces at Ella's bouncing smile that he almost jumped when she asked. "Oh, Oh yes, sure, sorry. I work for an advertising agency. We specialize in ad's with children and babies. Rick Schumann."

Rick handed Olivia one of his cards and shook his hand with her one free hand.

"Nice to meet you. Olivia Benson. So why are you going to the fourth floor, Rick?"

Rick's smile faded. "Ah, you've been to the fourth floor then. I'm not a kiddy porn photographer if that's what you're getting at. I'm reporting an incident. And you?"

"I'm the one who will be taking your incident."

The elevator dinged open and Olivia walked towards the office followed by the bumbling photographer.

"OH, you're a detective," Rick laughed. "God, for a moment there I thought you were a beautiful abused, homeless woman."

Olivia looked at him funny and lifted a brow at his comment.

"You know, cause of the bags. Not because you look homeless or even battered. And you don't smell. Ok, I'm a moron. Can we start over? I'm not an ass- I mean, I'm not a jerk. Sorry Ella."

Olivia started to laugh. "I suppose I could look homeless. I do have most of my life in these bags."

"Obviously, you were on maternity leave. You'll have to forgive me I'm not on a full cup of coffee this morning."

Olivia walked in the room and looked at her empty desk. It was right where she had left it. She dropped her bags and brief cases on the top and sat in her chair.

"Rick, there's coffee in that corner over there. Why don't you get some and we'll talk."

"Sure, sure."

Rick started to leave and then stopped. He twisted around in an arm-flailing manner and dropped the bags that he held for Olivia on the desk gently. "Those are yours, " he whispered.

Olivia sat at her desk and lightly touched the top of it. The feeling to be back at work was more than she could handle. If there hadn't been people in the room with her she may have kissed the wood. "This is where mama works, pumpkin cheeks, " she cooed to Ella.

Ella placed her two hands on the top of the desk and mashed her palms onto it. Then without a second of pause or contemplation she grabbed the nearby mouse pad and jammed it into her mouth.

"Ohp, no, baby girl. That's yucky," Olivia cried as she grabbed the black pad from her hands. Ella immediately threw a fit.

"Hey, I thought I heard you," Don said as he entered the room from his office. "What's the matter button nose, did mommy forget your binky?"

"Yes, mommy did. I couldn't grab the diaper bag with all the other things that needed to be brought up here."

Don stuck his hand into his pocket and pulled out a plastic bag of baby carrots. "Here, have one of these."

Ella grabbed the carrot and sucked back her dramatic tears.

"Don, I don't even want to know why you have a bag of carrots in your pocket."

"They're good for yeah," he winked. "Give me your keys I'll go get the diaper bag."

Olivia threw the pile of metal at him as Rick rounded the corner. She then dug into one of her bags and took out her trusty pen and pad.

"Ok, Ricky, go to that room behind you and we'll talk."

The three of them headed for the meeting room and Rick undid one of his digital cameras. "I want you take a look at these photos."

The little girl in the shots had bruises all over her arms and legs and her face had one black eye.

"Who is this little girl?"

"She's the actress and model for Welch's Grape juice. I've been working with her for a year now and every time she comes in she has new bruises. This was the worst. Dad says she falls a lot, but something tells me that's fiction."

Olivia sighed and nodded. "Can I get a copy of these photos?"

"Yeah, but I'm gonna ask that you keep me anonymous. I wasn't supposed to take those photos. I could be sued and fired in a heart beat if anyone found out."

"Sure, we can leave you out of it. I'll just need you to give me their info and we'll take a look into it."

SCENE

Munch opened a pastrami sandwich on his desk while Fin sifted through some paper work. "What is the deal with advertisements hanging from the back of airplanes? We're in the middle of an oil war and we got Geico paying millions of dollars to have a jet waste our fuel and destroy our air, and for what, car insurance? If I had a car and Geico was my carrier-"

"Yes, I know, you'd give them a piece of your mind and dump them like the sorry soul killers they are."

"You can't tell me that the whole thing isn't disgusting and ridiculous. I'm so tired of the all or nothing attitude. You have one group of people fighting to change the CO2 patterns by replacing light bulbs and driving hybrids, while the other group of people use an endless supply of wasteful materials because they're rich, happy, and they don't care."

"How do you know they don't care?"

Munch dropped his sandwich. "Have you talked to any of them? Guy says to me the other day. 'Ah, why should I change? The way people are reproducing, just breathing is going to cause global warming, so I'm going to live my life the way I want to.' This is what the SUV driving suit tells me at the bar. So I asked him if he had kids."

"What'd he say to that?"

"He has five."

Fin made a tiffed sound through his teeth and looked at the empty desk next to him. "Hey, what's Liv's stuff doing on that desk?"

Munch talked through the wade of sandwich in his mouth. "She's coming back, didn't you hear?"

"Nobody told me. Where's Elliot going?"

"He's staying here."

Fin squinted his eyes. "How's that working out?"

"Don't ask. Don't tell."

"Thanks Rick," Olivia said as she headed for her desk.

Olivia was now holding Ella and when she turned around Rick took a couple shot of her and the baby. "She's a cute one. I will see you two at…what time was it again?"

"Five o'clock. I really appreciate this. With all the other things going on I didn't even think about hiring a photographer."

"Detective, I am yours for the evening. See you then," Rick said as he left the office.

"What, are you putting her to work already," Fin mocked.

"You two ready for tonight," Olivia asked with a blushing grin.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Munch replied as he wiped his face.

"Yeah, shouldn't you be doing your hair or something? Not only have I just been informed of your always-welcomed return, but here you are working. You don't stop do you Benson?"

"What can I say Fin, I'm a machine. And you're right. I gotta jet, so here's a nice little present for you," she handed them the new case and kissed them on the cheeks.

Munch turned red at her touch.

Fin gave her a saucy look and moved his eyebrows up and down. " I'm liking mommy Benson. Do I get a smack if I'm bad?"

Olivia shook her head and turned with a flip of her hair. "You're gonna get a punch if you keep that up."

"Oh, she's still got her flare," Munch smirked.

"I'll see you later boys."

SCENE

"Kathleen, if you don't stop and pick up the cake it's not going to get done," Elliot loudly replied into his phone.

He drove up to the tailor shop and put his blinkers on.

"You're hair will be fine. I've got a million errands to run."

He walked into the store and placed his receipt on the counter. "Stabler. Kathleen, I don't have time for this. Let Elizabeth watch Benson and take a cab to the bakery. I will pay you back. Ok, I'm hanging up. Bye."

Elliot thanked the little Asian man behind the counter and quickly grabbed his purple suit.

He ran to his car and took out the long list of things Olivia wrote out for him to do last week. He wished he hadn't procrastinated until now. Olivia's neat handwriting went all the way down the page and he was only three items into it. At the bottom it read. "Don't wait to the last minute. I love you. O"

"Yeah, I'm a dick."

SCENE

"No, Casey, I have not had time to think about underwear," Olivia grumbled.

She held the cell to her ear as she waited in the dress shop breast feeding and tapping her foot impatiently.

"Well, as of this minute it looks like underwear is all I'm going to be in. No, I don't need you to bitch slap anyone. "

"Ms. Benson," said the young girl behind the desk. "It seems as though your dress never got sent to us."

"What?" Olivia dropped the phone from her ear and angrily got up in the girls face. "But I called a week ago. They said it was here and ready."

Casey's voice could be heard from the ground. "What the hell's going on? Liv, I'm coming down there."

Meekly the girl turned red and bit her lip. "I don't know who you talked to, but they must have gotten your order mixed up. We've double checked everything in the back."

Casey yelled from the floor. "Oh that's helpful. Who the fuck hired this girl? Liv, let me talk to her."

Olivia bent over and picked up the phone. "Casey, I'll call you back."

She flipped the phone closed and pushed back her hair. Ella grabbed onto the stands and yanked hard. "Ow, god damn-it." Olivia's breast feeding blanket fell to the ground along with her purse and cell phone as she juggled the baby and her long hair away from each other.

The sales girl scrunched her face and almost started to cry "We could get you a dress from the window."

Olivia looked around the room at the puffy sleeved nightmares hanging in the shop. Ella had stopped eating and Olivia stood in shock and frustration. Her hair was a mess, her boob was amiss, and her mind was cloudy.

Getting unofficially married was a bitch.

**AN: I've been there---sans baby. Weddings are a bitch! Don't have a wedding unless you can afford a planner. IT'S INSANE!!! And I hate my family. That's the second reason why you should stay away from weddings. Just take the large amount of money you would spend on a ridiculous wedding and go to an exotic paradise with a few close family and friends. Then take what's left over and buy yourself a condo and or home. I live in a big city- so condo's is it! But I'm telling you- that's the best piece of advice you'll ever receive! R&R!!!! **


	16. The Next Ten Minutes

**AN: All right this is the last chapter for this story. I hope you love it. I went to see HARRY POTTER tonight- YESSSSS! AWESOME!! But when I came home I had to finish this beast of a chapter. SO it's really really really late and my typing may be slippery. Excuse any of my typos! This chapter is kind of based on a song from one of my favorite musicals "The Last Five Years." called "The Next Ten Minutes". If you've never heard of it---Go download the music now. It is one of the most gut wrenching emotionally driven musicals EVER! Even if you're not a musical person---you'll love it. It's about a couple who get married and then divorced. (The divorced part is not the part I wrote about BTW) At the beginning of the show the guy starts at the begining of the relationship and teh girl starts at the end. They sing together in the middle of the show for the first time during "The Next Ten Minutes", and that happens to be when they get married. Anyway, I've seen it performed at least five or six times by several different casts and the story is so strong that I cry like a baby through the whole thing. And that's really hard for me to admit, because I'm not really that much of a girly girl. I have my moments, but crying is not usually one of them. Anyway-ENJOY!**

**The Next Ten Minutes**

Casey and Olivia burst through Elliot and Olivia's apartment door in a whirlwind.

"Liv, don't worry about it. Let's get all of your things and we'll go to Macy's and then we'll go straight to the salon. You'll be fabulo---"

Casey stopped when she realized that the living room was a disaster and Olivia had no longer been listening to her.

"Elliot! Maureen," Olivia called out, to what seemed like a destroyed empty house.

There was crayon on the walls, spilled cranberry juice on the floor, toddler toys thrown about, a dirty diaper open on the coffee table, and every couch cushion pulled from its' place.

"Holy mother of god, what the hell happened in here," Casey said, as she stood frozen in the middle of it.

Olivia handed Casey Ella and stormed to the bedrooms. "Kathleen! Elliot!"

Casey kicked her way to the kitchen with Ella held at an arms length from her body. She placed Ella in her high chair and looked for paper towels.

Ella who was about five months old found the whole thing to be quiet enjoyable. She spit and burbled in the chair while Casey opened and closed every cabinet in the kitchen searching for cleaning supplies. "I don't suppose you know where the soap would be do you, El?"

"muuuummmmm, mmmm, mum, mum, " she hummed with glee.

"Yeah, I didn't think so."

Olivia opened Maureen's bedroom door to find Elizabeth and three toddlers passed out on the bed and the floor.

Ben was hugging his blue blanket and sucking his thumb.

Simon's four-year-old son, Billy, lay sprawled out on the bed. His fingers had stickiness on them and his face was smudged with chocolate.

On the other side of Elizabeth, lightly snoring, lay the neighbor's little girl, Pearl. She looked like a little angel, with her blonde hair and her pink dress on, but Olivia knew better.

Pearl was the worst example of a well behaved two year old. If she wasn't repeating some awful swear word taught to her by her father, she was destroying things and hitting people.

Now knowing the perpetrators responsible for her newly decorated living room, she wondered why all of the kids were given to Elizabeth.

Quietly Olivia knelt down next to Elizabeth and nudged her awake. "Bethie," she whispered.

Elizabeth stretched and yawned peacefully, until she realized that she'd fallen asleep on the job. "Oh my god!"

"Shhhh. It's just me. You're ok. Where are your siblings?"

"Running errands. Well, except for Dickie. He had to go pick his girlfriend up and he hasn't gotten back yet."

"And why are you watching all of these children?"

Elizabeth sat up straight and rubbed her eyes. "Their parents are helping dad with the list."

"Really. And do you have any idea where your father is at this point in time?"

"I talked to him like three hours ago. He was still shopping."

Olivia looked around and sighed. "Great. Ok, this is going to work. Yep. I'm not worried. I'm going to do this. Naked with a baby. I guess, that's one way to do it. Yeah."

Olivia stood up and walked from the room as she talked to herself.

Casey was on all fours in a business suit and heels scrubbing crayon off the wall when Olivia opened the front door and welcomed Alex Cabot and her long-term secret lover, John Munch into the room.

"Alex Cabot," Olivia squealed. She hugged Alex around the neck and they laughed and cried with excitement.

"Oh my god, Olivia Benson, you look amazing. Look at your long hair. When did you grow it out?"

"Ah like a year ago, but I was thinking about chopping it off. The baby keeps getting tangled in it."

Alex let go of Olivia to look at Casey in rubber gloves on the floor. "Casey Novak, what are you doing?"

"I'm cleaning crayon, what the hell does it look like I'm doing?" Casey pulled herself off of the ground and headed for Alex with soapy gloves.

Munch stood in the corner watching the three women go at it like they hadn't skipped a day away from each other. Three minutes of seamless conversation and Alex was up to speed and bitching like the best of them.

"I can't believe they didn't have your dress! You should sue them!"

Olivia laughed. "Yes, because that's going to solve my problem."

"I'm not kidding. That's the most outrageous thing I've ever heard of. What are you going to do?"

Casey flipped off the rubber gloves and handed them to Alex. "We're gonna go shopping. You and John get the proud duty of cleaning….well dooty," Casey snarled as she looked at the pooh on the coffee table.

"Yeah how did that-"

"Mommyyyyyy," Pearl cried as she walked from the bedroom rubbing her eyes. Elizabeth ran behind her with Billy hanging from her back.

Casey grabbed Olivia's bag of make up and accessories and opened the door. "And you'll want to take care of that too. I mean, if you could."

Olivia turned to get Ella and Casey stopped her. "Liv, we don't have time."

"What about Ella?"

"She's fine. Munch, you got it under control right?"

Munch's eye grew wide and he fumbled out a ", what? I…I know nothing about bab-"

Casey pulled the door closed before he could answer.

Olivia peeked her head back in. "Her milk is in the refrigerator. Pink bottles. The blue ones are Ben's."

Alex stepped forward with panic on her face. "But Liv, I can't do-"

Casey pulled Olivia away from the door. "Liv, now. John, be at Cragen's by 4pm. No later."

She pulled her head out and disappeared.

SCENE

"Olivia Benson, I will be there on time and presentable," Elliot snapped as he drove recklessly around New York City.

He had given out orders and errands to anyone that called him.

He'd just finished his last stop when he remembered that he left Olivia's gift at work in his desk.

The sound of her frightened angry voice made the light bulb go off in his head. While holding the phone under his shoulder he got his siren ready to turn on as soon as Olivia was finished handing him his ass.

"Hey, hey, Ms. Olivia Benson—ok fine---Detective Olivia Benson—you used my full name first. I'm just going with the flow. Baby, everything will work out. Don't you worry about me. Get yourself together. Oh and let me know if you don't get a dress so I can at least have my shirt off. I wouldn't want you to feel like the only one under dressed," Elliot laughed.

SCENE

"Elliot, that's not funny. I love you too," Olivia replied before flipping the phone closed and pretending that she wasn't upset or stressed out.

Casey pulled Olivia around the department store throwing every dress she could find at her. "We have four hours to get you a dress and fix your hair. We can do this."

Olivia nodded in a trance and then she stopped. There in the window display was a manican dressed like a detective in a cocktail dress.

A yellow knee length trench coat fell to the side of a light purple vintage tailored knee length dress.

Olivia felt that immediate gut feeling just looking at it. The color would match Elliot's dark indigo zoot suit, nothing about it was fluffy, and the fabric was almost identical to the dress she had originally picked out. "Casey, what about that one?"

Casey tilted her head. "Well, it's definitely not white, or traditional in any way shape or form."

"Do you like it?"

"I love it. Let's try it on."

Olivia lifted a brow at her. "Let's?"

Casey got into the window and started pulling off the coat and the dress. "Ok, you can try it on. But if you aren't getting it, I so am."

SCENE

Don watched the caterers set up the food and flowers in his living room, while he paced next to the front door checking his watch every five seconds.

When he'd proposed the idea for Elliot and Olivia to have an unofficial wedding he didn't realize that he'd have to host the darn thing.

But Liv and El were like his kids, so knowing that he lived in a giant house all by himself, and that they needed a private space to vow their love, he decided to offer them the hospitality.

After hiring a few maids and mowing his grass the old Victorian Bachelor pad was looking mighty spectacular.

Simon and his wife were already at Don's helping with the decorations and the last minute preparations.

Simon walked by shoving an Hor'Deurve into his mouth. "Hey, Sarg, when's Elliot getting here?"

"He should have been here ten minutes ago. And Si, it's Captain, but please, call me Don."

"Don over Captain. No way! Captain is the coolest title ever. I would definitely abuse that privilege."

"And that's why you don't have it."

SCENE

Olivia walked out of the dressing room feeling like she just stepped out of a Dick Tracy comic book. "This is it!"

Ten minutes later she was in the salon being pampered by the gayest man she'd ever met and convincing herself that she wanted a dramatic change.

The over-zealous stylist giggled with delight and started hacking off every inch of Olivia's mangled brown locks.

"You are going to be gorgeous sweetheart! Your face is perfect for this cut. This is so exciting," he chirped.

SCENE

Maureen pulled into Cragen's cement driveway with Travis, Kathleen, Dickie, Dickie's girlfriend Amber, and a thousand bags and boxes of wedding essentials.

"Kathleen, get the cake, " she shouted.

"Why am I in charge of the f-ing cake?"

Dickie pushed her into the car. "Stop your whining Kathleen, at least you didn't have to go to the hotel to set up the candles and wrap the lingerie."

"Oww, did he make you do that," Kathleen moaned.

"Yeah, I'm never gonna be able to look at Olivia the same way again."

Kathleen shivered and pulled the cake from the trunk. "Double oowww!!!! Why is our father such an ass sometimes?"

"At least we know he's an ass who's getting some ass," Dickie joked as he smacked his girlfriend, Amber, on the tush.

Maureen grabbed a handful of boxes and yelled ", Shut your yaps. We gotta get this shit set up so I can do my hair."

The four of them piled into the veranda and were greeted by Don. "Hey, kids. Take that stuff to the caterers. They'll set it up. Have you seen your father?"

"No, he was suppose to be here already, " Maureen snipped. "Is John here? I need to dress Benson so that I can get myself ready."

"John? No. Was he suppose to be here already," Don asked.

"Yes." Maureen looked at her watch. "Damn-it where are they? They left ten minutes before us."

SCENE

"Say hello to my little friends," Billy shouted from the back seat of Munch's car, as he hit Pearl over the head with a plastic toy from McDonalds.

In the sweetest little two-year-old voice Pearl threw her French fries on Billy's head and said ", you're going down, ese."

"Ouch," Billy yelled.

"Bitch," Pearl answered.

Alex looked at Elizabeth and Munch, who were sitting next to her in the front seat and asked ", did I just hear her say-"

"Yeah, her dad's writes for Conan O'Brain," Elizabeth sighed.

Alex looked at Elizabeth crossly not understanding why that had anything to do with Pearl's extensive vocabulary, but decided that she really didn't want to know and looked hopelessly towards the street in front of her.

SCENE

"Elliot, what are you doing here," Fin said as he came from the crib followed by a tall fake blonde with extra large tits.

"I forgot something," he said as he dug threw his desk.

His hand touched the blue velvet box and he grabbed it quickly, then jammed it into his suit pocket.

"You're looking good," Fin added. "You've met Coco right?

Elliot glanced at the woman honing all over Fin and nodded. "Yeah, Hi."

He then grabbed the pile of clothing from his desk and nodded quickly to the blonde. "Fin, I will see you there."

"Did you get changed in the locker room?"

"Yeah," Elliot responded as he headed for the door.

"You're tie is crooked," Fin yelled.

Elliot pressed the elevator button and looked down at his tie to straighten it out.

The elevator doors opened and Allen Roberts graced the floor with his presence. "Elliot Stabler, just the guy I was looking for."

Elliot pushed past him. "Allen, I don't have time today."

"What do you mean you don't have time?"

Elliot checked his watch. "I have a previous engagement and if I don't leave now I'm gonna be ten minutes late. Well actually an hour and ten minutes late, because I should be there already."

Allen held the elevator door open and licked his lips like he had all the time in the world. "Just answer me a few questions and I'll let you go."

"I… Huuuahh," he growled as he impatiently checked his watch. "I guess I don't have choice."

"You and Benson did a case, oh two years ago, on a Muslim family. The father was an Ambassador of Afghanistan. "

"Yeah, what about it."

"What kind of connections have you had with that Ambassador since then?"

Elliot twitched in annoyance. "Wha- NONE! The last I heard he was back in Afghanistan. Can't this wait until Monday. I have a thing."

Allen held Elliot's gaze and just kept talking. "Did you know that Olivia Benson still makes visits to that Ambassador's daughter?"

"No, but that wouldn't surprise me. She stays in touch with a lot of victims."

"Elliot, you need me to take this punk down for you," Fin said behind Allen.

Allen turned to see Fin cracking his knuckles. "Detective, that's unnecessary."

"And so are your questions. You heard the man, he has to leave."

Allen held his foot in the door and sniffed with authority through his nose. "I was allowing him to proceed, but I, unlike him have a job to do, and he knows the answers to my investigation."

Fin got up in Allen's face. "Yeah, what investigation is that?'

"Terrorism. You'd know all about that wouldn't you Ofidian."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

Allen lifted his chest. " I know all about your brother being taken to Guantanamo Bay, so don't think you're not next."

Fin pushed him into the wall. "Why you going through my life rat? For your information I haven't talked to my brother in twenty years, so _don't_ know what you're talking about. Back off."

Elliot stepped out of the elevator. "Fin, back up."

"What are you really hunting for Roberts? You jealous? Or do you have nothing better to do with your life but to pry into others."

Allen pushed him out of the way. "I'm here to ask you questions not visa versa. We can do this the hard way or my way."

Elliot looked at Fin and then to the closet next to them. Fin grinned and grabbed Allen by the neck of his button down shirt. "How bout we do this my way?"

Elliot jumped around them and opened the door as Fin shoved him inside.

"Talk to me when you figure out how to open that door, " Fin smiled and then closed the door and locked it.

Allen started yelling and beating on the door. "Hey, what are you doing? You can't do this. Let me out of here."

SCENE

Olivia stood in front of the mirror in Don's daughter's old bedroom. Her hair was wild and different. She barely recognized herself. It was like looking at a rock star or a model. After the morning she'd had, that was exactly what she was feeling like. Her face was perfect from the professionally applied make-up, bringing out all of the wonderful things about her already flawless complexion. Alex stood behind Olivia holding Ella and smiling.

"Well, it's not a white wedding, but you are a bombshell."

Olivia blushed and took Ella from her arms. Ella was in an equally cute purple dress with yellow flowers in her hair. "So this is it."

"How do you feel?"

"I feel…oh, I can't even describe it. Happy. Excited." Olivia started to tear up.

"Oh don't cry. You can't cry yet."

They laughed through the watery eyes. Alex handed Olivia a white handkerchief with lily's on it. "Here, I brought you this."

Olivia held back a laugh and wiped her eyes lightly. "I'm so glad you're here."

Alex hugged her. "I'm glad I'm here too."

"I wish my mother could be here. She always wanted me to get married."

Casey walked into the room. "You mean, unofficially married."

"Whatever," Olivia shrugged.

Casey kissed her on the cheek. "I'm sure she's here in spirit, darling. Are you ready Sadie Sadie married lady?"

Olivia nodded and they all headed towards the room that had been cleared out for the small ceremony.

On one side George Huang sat with his partner William. Melinda and her family sat next Trevor Langdon and they chatted warmly back and forth. In the back corner sat twenty of Olivia's defense students. They were all loud and giggly.

On the other side, Simon and his wife along with Elliot's kids and immediate family members took up two rows of folding chairs.

And Elliot's Irish family, who were quiet a large pack of reproducing Catholics sat behind them. His mother, brothers and sister, came with their spouses and children.

They alone took up thirty seats. Olivia peered out at the group of them and got butterflies thinking about the size of her new family.

She couldn't believe she'd gone from nothing to this. It was all so intense. She kept on peeking and saw that in the corner on the left side sat a few of the neighbor's from their building had decided to come.

Pearl was making a ruckus as usual. It was a small crowd, but they were full of love and support.

The one thing Olivia didn't see was Elliot. "Where's Elliot," she asked.

Casey checked her watch. "He's coming. He was trying to find a parking space."

Ten minutes later the front door opened and Olivia heard Fin and Elliot stumble in. Coco giggled like a cheap hooker in the background.

"Who is that," Alex whispered.

"That's Coco," Olivia said as she rolled her eyes.

"Where'd he find her, the stripe club," Alex chortled.

"Probably," Casey added.

Munch took his place at the front of the group with Elliot next to him. Elliot ran his hand through his hair and slowly gained his composer.

Since the wedding was so intimate Elliot and Olivia decided to cut the groom's man and the bride's maids from the ceremony. Alex and Casey kissed Olivia on the cheek and took a seat, while Don took Ella from Olivia's arms and held his arm out for her to latch onto. "You ready?"

"I've been ready for eight years now," Olivia smiled.

The violinist stood and started the heart grabbing drowns of happy bittersweet music.

Elliot looked up from his shinny black shoes and Olivia walked through the open hallway door taking his breath away.

Olivia could feel the uncontrollable wiggle of her lips as she held back the happy tears.

Slowly she made her way to Elliot and he grabbed her hands and held her face with his warm eyes. He couldn't help himself. He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek while excitedly rubbing her hands with his thumbs. "You're beautiful," he whispered.

"All right, you two," Munch interrupted.

The small group chuckled.

Munch folded his hands in front of him and cleared his throat. "We gather here to celebrate the unity of our best friends and our beloved family members (blood and chosen), Elliot Stabler and Olivia Benson.

If there were ever a time to agree with marriage it would be today. Watching these two work, laugh, fight, and love each other everyday for eight years was a journey to say the least.

For a long time I wasn't sure that they were going to beat the battle, but through the fates that be and a few spilled coffees, here we are, and I tell yeah, I'm a believer.

Seeing these two together brings hope and proof that there is true love in the world.

Hope that you can find a match to your good habits and your bad habits, and proof that they have done it and will continue to live it for the rest of their lives…as long as Elliot does everything that she says."

Everybody laughed.

"Kidding, kidding. Liv, I love yeah. All joking aside. Before I go ahead and give them the vows, Dickie wanted to share something from the whole family. Dickie."

Dickie stepped up and went straight to Olivia and Elliot and hugged them. He then turned to the group and spoke. " Liv, you've been the best step mother a person could ask for. All of us, original Stablers agree that we couldn't love you more. Thanks for bringing our dad back. We thought we lost him for a long time, but ever since you two got together this family has done nothing but laugh and mend it's faults. So thanks and welcome. And dad, keep your head on this time and do right to this wonderful woman."

"Dickie, you have nothing to worry about," Elliot smiled.

He then pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket. "Good. Ok, one last thing. We wanted to welcome Liv into the family with the Irish Blessing. Cause, well, it's not a wedding without the Irish blessing."

All four of Elliot's kid's stood up and read the blessing together with tears in the eyes and smiles on their faces.

" May God be with you and bless you.

May you see your children's children.

May you be poor in misfortunes

and rich in blessings.

May you know nothing but happiness

from this day forward."

Olivia dabbed at her flooded tear ducks as she hugged each one of them and kissed them on the cheek. She was so happy to be a part of their lives.

Munch took the rings from his pocket and recited their vows one at a time.

Elliot slid the gold onto Olivia's finger. Even though the vows would not be acknowledged by the state of New York or any other state for that matter. He took the words and the symbols to the highest respect.

Each word from his mouth was an absolute promise. Olivia sniffled and placed the ring on Elliot's finger with a shaky hand. The smile on her face was enough to bring sunlight into the darkest room.

Elliot smiled at her and wiped the tear from her cheek.

When the finished Munch winked at them and said with dignified authority ", I now illegally pronounce you, Man and Wife. Elliot kiss-"

For the second time today Munch was rudely interrupted as Olivia leapt towards Elliot and smothered his lips in a passionate excited kiss.

Everybody stood up and cheered. Don popped a champagne bottle open and the room erupted in good times, tasty food, and plenty of alcohol.

Throughout the course of the evening the eclectic group of family and friends watched the happy couple fawn all over each other and dance insufferably around the Dining room dance floor.

Olivia walked over to Maureen and took her sleepy baby into her arms. Ella nestled into Olivia's shoulder as the I-Pod shuffled its' way to Bobby Darin's "Beyond the Sea".

Elliot pulled his wife and daughter close to his chest. The music played melodically and Elliot's tipsy dancing feet swayed the two loves of his life back and forth like the gentle lull of water.

He nuzzled Olivia's cheek and neck while singing lightly into her ear.

"Somewhere beyond the sea. Somewhere waiting for me. My lover stands on golden sands and watches the ships that go sailing."

Olivia smiled and moved her hips with the touch of Elliot's hands. "Look out Bobby Darin, Elliot Stabler's taking over," she whispered.

He lightly kissed her lips and breathed in the smell of her perfume. "Mmmm, I forgot how much I like your short hair."

"I didn't know you had an affinity for it."

"You've got that tomboy, super model thing going on. It's irresistible. That and I can kiss you better."

Elliot leaned into her neck and kissed the soft spot beneath her ear lobe. Lightly he made his way past her collarbone and stopped at Ella's head. Ella was fast asleep. Elliot smiled at Olivia and they rocked side-to-side starring at Ella's sleepy baby face. Olivia quietly sang to Elliot and Ella with sultry eyes and warmth in her voice. "It's far beyond the stars. It's near beyond the moon. And I know, beyond a doubt. My heart will rip you out."

Elliot giggled. "Those aren't the lyrics."

"Those are my lyrics," she smiled, half drunk from the alcohol and half drunk from her complete love for the man holding onto her.

Elliot twirled them around and teased her with a small dip. He then lifted her surprised upper body back to their feet and pulled her even closer.

Their noses touched and their eyes met centimeters from each other. Elliot sang once again as he smiled and played with Olivia's new haircut. "We'll meet beyond the shore, we'll kiss just as before. Happy we'll be beyond the sea, and never again I'll go sailing!"

"No more sailing," Olivia answered as she slowly shook her head rubbing her nose to his.

"So long sailing." Elliot took her hand and spun her slowly around then held her and the baby tightly as he dipped them to the floor.

They stayed in their own little world taking in every minute like it was a precious gift. The time was endless. The clock felt like it had stopped.

Elliot and Olivia weren't going to miss one more moment of their life. Olivia sat in Elliot's lap still holding onto Ella.

She touched Elliot's hand and locked her fingers into his. Elliot looked down at his baby and touched her fingers.

Her tiny hand moved and grabbed onto his hand.

The guests around them chatted and laughed as the three of them sat knotted together.

Olivia closed her eyes and memorized the moment like a picture. Theses moments, these seconds, these happy warm thoughts were the endless beginnings of the ties that binded them together.

Detective Benson had found her knot!

**AN: Happy Ending!!! One thing to take into account--Olivia's wedding dress is from the picture of Mar and Chris doing silly tango movies and goofy poses. I was so into the whole EO wedding that I made a video for it. You can watch it on You Tube .com. Search for Weisselle and my video's will come up. The video titled "The Next Ten Minutes" goes with this one. The baby pics in the video are just random baby pictures I found online. Well, unless Mariska is holding it- That's obviously August. Secondly, if you want more let me know. If I get enough inquaries I will continue this story.**


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